1986: My Happy Life in Provence

Chapter 367 You're telling me this is Lourmaran? Who would believe that!

Lourmaran has been so 'lively' lately that the Vaucluse Department of Tourism can't help but notice it.

The Gold series of art events is backed by the Tourism Bureau, and in the cold month of February, it is the most important event to boost tourism in the entire province, bar none.

I thought Gordes was the most dazzling village in Luberon in February, but unexpectedly, thanks to the influence of several artists from Lourmarin, countless tourists from other parts of France and the world have noticed a small village called Lourmarin.

Lourmaran came into the view of the Vaucluse Department of Tourism in this high-profile manner.

Upon receiving this news, the tourism bureau did not rush to act, because successive Lourmaran governments, represented by Blanco, would submit a report to the tourism bureau every year, detailing the new changes and new look of Lourmaran in an attempt to impress them.

The tourism bureau is certain that the Lourmaran government will also submit this document this year, and then we can see what's going on here by looking at the information inside.

But as they waited and waited, the application report was delayed, while news of renowned artists moving to Lourmaran to live and work reached their ears first.

The tourism bureau has finally begun to take the small town of Lourmaran seriously, as it has met the criteria for support—the gathering of artists will attract niche, in-depth travelers, which is beneficial to the development of the tourism industry.

But they also began to have doubts.

Why haven't Lourmaran's application materials been submitted yet?
Before the start of each tourist season, the Vaucluse Tourism Office sets up a special team to 'inspect' various key tourist cities and towns.

This year, they specifically included Lourmaran's name on the inspection list, wanting to see the village for themselves.

Ronan was not in the village on the day the tourism bureau came to Lourmaran.

Receiving tourists from the Vaucluse Department of Tourism is the most important task for the Lourmaran government, and everyone, including Blanco, is making active preparations for it.

Ronan planned to talk to Blanco about his experiences in Grasse after the tourism bureau's inspection.

However, if Ronan were in the village today, he would likely recognize that the head of the visiting tourism officials was someone he had met before.

"Quincy, is this your first time in Lourmaran?"

The tourism bureau sent three people to Lourmaran this time, two men and one woman.

Besides Quincy, who had once attended a rosé enthusiasts' gathering with Mr. Llorente, there was a young male official named Willie and an older woman named Ellian.

Willie had only been working for a short time and was always very excited to come to a new place. As soon as the car entered Lourmaran territory, he started chatting with Quincy.

“I came here five or six years ago.” Quincy, a long-time employee, reminded Willie, “You must not show any obvious emotional fluctuations in front of the Lourmaran government officials. You must keep your joys and sorrows to yourself.”

Willie understands they're here to work, but what does that have to do with emotions?

"Emotions can't be expressed either?"

Sitting behind the two men, Ellian picked up a small mirror and an expensive lipstick, making her final preparations before getting off the bus:

“Being too happy will make them think we’re about to approve the budget; finding fault will give the impression that we’re doomed. They might overdo it in the latter half of the inspection. Quincy and I were once left in a village for some kind of special party, and we couldn’t leave until 8 p.m., which was a disaster.”

Wei Li nodded in sudden realization:
"Even if you discover a potential hazard, you shouldn't point it out; just keep it to yourself."

The tourism bureau believes that Lourmaran's delayed application for a budget may be due to the sudden influx of artists, which has caused some unspoken problems. After all, the village is too small and underdeveloped to handle emergencies. The government intends to resolve the issues first before applying.

Quincy's final words to Willie:
"In short, today's task is to inspect; the important thing is to 'see.' If there's anything you want to say, we can discuss it after we leave."

"Okay." Wei Li kept the words of his seniors firmly in mind.

Blanco sent a car to meet Quincy and his party on Highway D943 and directed them to park their car in the parking lot at the entrance of the village.

"Is this parking lot newly built?" Quincy asked casually. "I remember last time I came, I parked my car downstairs in the office building."

Blanco said with a broad smile:
"Yes, it was only built a little over two months ago. It has 50 parking spaces. There are now three formal parking lots in the village. There are 50 parking spaces on the other side of the village along the D27 road, and 80 parking spaces in the farmland between the commercial street and Lourmaran Castle. Although they are not very big, they should be able to slightly alleviate the burden of parking in the village during the tourist season."

Having visited countless small villages in Luberon, Elian revealed a subtle smile that suggested he 'saw through it all but didn't say anything'.

The temporary parking spaces along the roads in Lourmaran are sufficient to accommodate tourists during the peak travel season.

What's the point of building so many parking lots?

There's no parking space at the village entrance except for their car. I guess most of the temporary parking spaces along the roads in the whole village are empty.

But as soon as he entered the village of Lumaran, Elian noticed several cars parked on both sides of the road. The cars were parked all the way to the village entrance.
Quincy glanced at the deserted parking lot behind him, smiled, and said to Blanco:
"I thought there wouldn't be many tourists today, and the parking lot was empty."

He reacted the same way as Elian.

Blanco laughed heartily and made a 'please' gesture:

"Because you're coming today, the parking lot is closed to the public. Come on, I'll show you around the village."

The village of Lourmaran unfolds slowly like a snail shell, centered around the old church. As you enter the village, the buildings become denser and the cars on both sides of the road become more numerous and lively as you walk towards the center.

The three people from the tourism bureau temporarily forgot about checking for parking spaces and instead admired the ancient buildings along the way.

Like other villages in Luberon, Lourmarin's core buildings have been preserved from the Middle Ages, and its history is even older than that of other villages, dating back to the Neolithic period.

But what's amazing is that even without flowers and green leaves in this season, the buildings in Lourmaran are full of life – most of the houses have had their exteriors repaired, and some have been renovated.

"Were these houses renovated with government money?" Quincy asked Blanco curiously.

The government needs to allocate a significant amount of manpower and financial resources to renovate so many houses.

Blanco stood with his hands behind his back, looking at the buildings on either side as if he were looking at his own children:

"No, it was built by the villagers themselves."

Quincy and Ellian exchanged a glance.

Villagers spontaneously repaired their own houses?
Is this still Provence?

People in Provence wouldn't even spend a penny on a clogged sewer, but they would spend money on the exterior walls of their houses?
A brightly colored house suddenly came into view of Elian.

A surge of joy welled up within her, as if she had found the answer, and she blurted out:
"Was it the arrival of the artists that changed the villagers' mindset?"

Along the way, you'll see brightly colored houses every now and then, and you can also see artistic elements on many ordinary houses.

It's not hard to understand why the villagers spontaneously took action under the influence of art.

However, Elian suddenly frowned.

The timing is off; the influx of artists into Lourmaran is a recent phenomenon, isn't it?

Blanco proudly said:
“Before the artists came to Lourmaran, the villagers had already started repairing their houses on their own initiative; they were influenced by one of the villagers.”

Willie, who had been silently observing the whole way, asked in surprise, "Influenced by a villager? How?"

“Ahem—” Quincy coughed to remind Willie to watch his mood, then smiled and said to Blanco, “I didn’t expect to run into the market today, let’s go check it out.”

The dates for our visit to Lourmaran were set by the tourism board, so encountering the market was purely accidental.

When Quincy and Ellian saw many cars parked on both sides of the road, they realized that it must be market day, otherwise there wouldn't be so many people during the off-season for travel.

However, when they arrived at the market area and continued towards the old church in the center, they were surprised to find that the market in Lourmaran was very deserted.

There were few customers; the streets were mostly filled with children running and playing, and villagers sitting and chatting behind the stalls.

"Aren't there many people at the market?" Quincy asked Blanco beside him.

Blanco nodded and said truthfully:

“Lourmaran is very close to Mena and Bonnillo, and the market dates are close together, making it difficult to promote our market culture. This year is already considered good, with more than 90 stalls, compared to less than 70 at this time last year.”

Quincy nodded silently, without saying anything.

The Luberon Special Market, held year-round, is a crucial means of boosting the village's economy. If the development of the market culture is hindered, there will be fewer tourists, making it difficult for the villagers to become wealthy.

He looked with pity at the village stall owners and their children on either side:

The poor people may never be able to leave this barren land and live a happy life.

Suddenly, Quincy stopped in his tracks.

He stopped in front of a honey stall and carefully examined the wine bottle in the stall owner's hand.

Quincy knew very well that in small villages like Lourmarin, villagers usually only drank inferior red wines produced by cooperative wineries or winemaking cooperatives, but this stall owner was offering a rosé wine that was by no means affordable.

He couldn't be wrong about the fact that the rosé wines produced by Stella de Sques are the best in Provence.

People in Lourmaran actually drink rosé?

And it's such a good brand?

Despite having a lot of questions, Quincy quickly looked away.

But surprisingly, the stall owner noticed Quincy staring at his wine and asked in a friendly manner:

"Want a drink, stranger?"

Before he could finish speaking, the vendor selling farm tools came over with a bottle of equally expensive Châteauneuf-du-Pape red wine:

“Do you think everyone is like you, getting into rosé wine because of Ronan? Do outsiders drink red wine? I have some of the best vintage dry white wine from the Rhône Valley. I’m in a good mood today, let’s open it.”

Quincy froze on the spot.

A bottle of the best vintage dry white wine from the Rhône Valley costs at least 500 francs.

Are you just going to serve this to strangers like this?

While Quincy was shocked by the villagers' strange behavior, Elian also discovered something that shocked her.

Several young mothers were playing with their little girls in front of a house, their voices filled with joy.

As a mother herself, Elian is very concerned about the situation of women and children.

She wanted to observe whether women and children in such impoverished places lived in dire straits.

This sight startled her.

One of the mothers was applying the same lipstick to her daughter as the one in Ellian's makeup bag, while the other mother was holding a lipstick from a different, much more expensive cosmetic brand.

After walking a short distance, several little boys ran past, playing and laughing. Ellian noticed that one of the boys was wearing Nike sneakers!
Ellian's gaze swept across the smiling faces of one woman, girl, and boy after another, growing increasingly alarmed with each look.

The market in Lourmaran is so quiet, but the villagers seem to be living a very comfortable life.

Each of them wore an undisguised smile.

Young Willie also discovered that Lourmaran was different from other villages.

A senior colleague once said that in some places, ignorant villagers are the biggest obstacle to tourism.

They treat outsiders and tourists like their "father's killer," and are extremely resistant to the development of tourism in their village.

But after walking for more than half an hour in Lourmaran, Willie found that the villagers were quite nice to them, these 'outsiders'. It's not that everyone they passed greeted them, but Willie didn't see any hostility on anyone's face.

"The villagers' mindset directly influences the future development of a village. The villagers of Lourmaran are so friendly; they will definitely be able to develop tourism well!"

Will wanted to discuss this topic with his two senior colleagues several times, but remembering Quincy's instructions, he silently swallowed his words.

He kept reminding himself that the main purpose of his trip to Lourmaran was to 'see'.

Let's observe the artistic atmosphere here and identify any potential 'hidden dangers'.

To learn more, Will left the group and went to the restroom alone.

He wanted to use this opportunity to find out whether the enthusiasm shown by the villagers of Lourmaran was a deliberate creation by the government or genuine.

The houses in Lourmaran are very nicely built, but the public toilets are rather 'unsatisfactory' and the government currently lacks the funds to repair them.

Willie stood at the dark bathroom door, his heart starting to waver.

This looks terrifying.
Or should we just bear with it?
Just as he was hesitating, a chubby, fair-skinned young man came out of the toilet.

The young man looked refreshed and was happily humming the latest popular song, seemingly in a very good mood. He even greeted Willie as he passed by.
"Hello, stranger? Going to the toilet? It's just a little dark inside, there's no scary smell."

Willie said thank you and mustered up his courage to go inside.

"It doesn't seem to be something they deliberately created; the villagers here are genuinely very hospitable," he muttered to himself.

Willie had just taken off his pants when he heard the chubby boy's voice again, and it sounded closer and closer:
"Hey, are you afraid of the dark? Don't be afraid, I'll keep you company!"

Willie's urge to urinate was abruptly halted, and he screamed in panic:

"No, thank you!"

God, the villagers of Lourmaran are so hospitable!!
(End of this chapter)