1986: My Happy Life in Provence

Chapter 443 Failed Entrustment
On the last afternoon of Easter, Mena Village was still bustling with people, including some 'newcomers' who had just arrived.

Many tourists choose to combine the Easter holiday with the May Day holiday to create a long holiday of more than ten days, allowing them to fully enjoy Provence in one go.

But those who arrived late could only see the tail end of a bread-making competition.

At the request of the Mena village government, the organizing committee needs to clean the site on the day of the event.

Mena Village Square is an important venue for various large-scale events, and they need to start preparing for other activities during the May Day holiday.

To facilitate the organizers' follow-up work, the exhibitors also began packing up their belongings at 3 p.m.

The 'fat sheep' is still there, but the event is over, which makes members of the Provence Food Association, including Llorente, even more 'complain' about the ruthlessness of the Mena village government.

The Golden Triangle region has no shortage of events, and the next event will be of a higher level and scale than the bread competition, so they have no choice but to leave quickly.

But these complaints could only be kept to oneself.

In the future, we'll still need the government to provide activities and support.

It can be said that Mena Village has no shortage of bread competitions, but bread competitions cannot exist without Mena Village.

Although it was ruthless, the necessary etiquette was still maintained.

On the last day of the event, the mayor and officials of Mena village also came to the bread competition venue and had a close conversation with the important members of the Provence Culinary Association.

Of course, this pleasant meeting was made possible by our social butterfly, Mr. Llorente.

“Adolf, look, although the exhibition area is starting to be vacated and there are fewer exhibits, it still can’t dampen the enthusiasm of the tourists,” Llorente said, looking around. “Provence can’t do without food.”

The village chief of Mena, Adolf, said in a calm tone:

"That's why Mena Village has been working with the bread competition for so many years. You know, many events only last for one or two years before we stop working with them. Mena Village only hosts events that people love."

He turned his head, smiled, and said to everyone:

"I believe that next year's bread competition will be another success. Thank you all for your hard work this year."

Two days ago, Llorente hosted a dinner for both sides, hoping to extend the bread competition next year and increase government support, but the two sides did not reach an agreement during the meeting.

Adolf said that every event in Mena village during the Easter to May Day long weekend is important, and they are all traditional events that are held every year.

Giving the bread competition more time and support means cutting back on time and resources for other activities. He's in a real bind.

The members of the Provence Culinary Association returned and held a short meeting. If the support for the bread competition is only this much, why not have a new, larger, and more advanced collaboration?
So during this meeting, Llorente indirectly expressed—"Seeing you once a year is too long, my friend, I miss you."

Llorente shrugged and said, half-jokingly:

"To be honest, I really love this place, and I'll miss it next year."

Adolf said with a smile:
“You can come to Mena Village anytime. There are many overlapping activities now, so we will definitely meet soon.”

“Okay, I hope we can meet more often!” Llorente said with a smile. “Come on, let’s go take another look over there.”

Llorente was a smooth operator; he preferred to achieve his goals through 'tricky' means rather than force. Seeing that Adolf wasn't taking the bait, he decided not to say anything more and would plan for the future.

But someone nearby thought Llorente was being too 'dawdling' and said bluntly:

“Adolf, our cooperation should be more intensive. For 27 years, the bread competition has been cooperating with Mena Village. Perhaps we can develop some deeper cooperation?”

There are only a handful of star villages in Luberon, and the food association hopes to bring more events here.

Only events held in regions with a thriving tourism industry can yield remarkable results.

Adolf's attitude was warm, but his words were cutting:
"Of course we hope to have a more intensive and in-depth cooperation with the Provence Food Association, but the space and resources are indeed limited. In the future, two large squares and three activity centers will be built in the village of Mena. When our conditions allow in five years, we will definitely cooperate with you more. Please don't worry."

Llorente and the others exchanged glances, simultaneously noticing the shock in their companion's eyes.

The core area of ​​Mena Village has undergone nearly three times the expansion in more than a decade, transforming from a typical 'bird's nest' village into a large village that combines mountainous and plain terrain with classical and modern elements.

In terms of the size of the core area and the level of modernization, Gold is no match for Mena Village, which became an instant hit by tourism transformation.

Should the village of Mena be further expanded?

This is terrifying.
The words that were about to be spoken, intended to exert some pressure, were swallowed back by the members of the food association, and what came out were all compliments.

"That's fantastic, I look forward to that day."

"What else do you want to build? We already have two museums, are you going to build a third one?"

"My God, Mena is definitely the most prosperous village in Luberon!"

After a warm exchange, the group parted ways in the square.

With a turn of his head, Llorente's semi-permanent smile vanished.

He whispered to his colleagues around him:

"Given the current situation, the possibility of getting Mena Village to contribute more resources in the short term is very low." Unlike Kawayon, the 'Melon Capital', and Apte, the 'Candied Fruit Capital,' this place is not famous for its cuisine and can have a good relationship with the Food Association.

The most distinctive features of Mena village are its artistic heritage and the most famous market in the Luberon region; the government has invested heavily in these two areas.

"But we can't give up here. Mena Village has a huge number of tourists, so let's take it slow."

"Actually, it's not just Mena village. We haven't had any large-scale cooperation with Gold so far. It's all been small-scale. Bonillo has a closer relationship with us, but we can't have all our activities done there."

"But there are only three villages in the Golden Triangle, and the number of tourists and the level of attention that other villages receive cannot compare with them."

Opinions arose within the association, culminating in a concluding speech by the ambitious Llorente:

"Let's prepare for both possibilities. We'll continue to maintain close ties with the Golden Triangle to seek more cooperation, while also looking for other places, such as towns like Aix, which, at our urging, are also trying to establish themselves as dessert capitals."

In a moment of intuition, Llorente caught a glimpse of Ronan packing his things:

"Or other villages."

Having left Mena village early, Ronan finally saw the bustling scene of Lourmaran during the long weekend.

“There are so many tourists! The gap between us and the Golden Triangle is visibly narrowing little by little.” Ronan kept looking around as he carried his things back to the restaurant, and said happily to Zoe next to him, “This is completely different from Lourmaran last year.”

"There are so many people, I'm almost disoriented." Zoe kept dodging pedestrians. "I used to be able to walk home with my eyes closed."

Ronan turned around and said:
"After we finish moving our things, let's go for a walk around and see if there's anything new on the 'snack street'."

“Okay,” Zoe replied happily. “Let’s go to Alan’s shop and buy some bread. My dad says he likes their honey bread.”

After putting down their things, Ronan and Zoe walked hand in hand down the streets of Lourmaran.

Despite being locals, their expressions were similar to those of tourists from other places, their eyes showing both unfamiliarity and curiosity.

Once the travel season begins, Lourmaran feels like a newborn baby; it might seem like it has changed after just one day away.

Every time I go out, I have different feelings and discover new things.

Passing by the visitor center, Ronan pulled Zoe inside:
“I heard Theo say that a new message board has been added to the visitor center. Let’s go see how visitors describe Lourmaran.”

Zoe, eager to try, said:

"Let's write a couple of lines too."

"A plant?" Ronan said with a smile. "It wouldn't be good if we got caught."

Zoe said playfully:

"We'll use someone else's name."

Ronan tightened his grip on Zoe's hand and squeezed into the visitor center:
"Okay, I'll write it using Thor's name!"

The message board has only been up for three days, but it is already almost full of messages.

The young couple each chose a corner and wrote down their impressions of Lourmaran.

Before Ronan put pen to paper, he discovered that someone next door had written a very long paragraph, like an essay.

The man's handwriting was very wild, with each letter being round and large, making it easy to spot at a glance.

Driven by curiosity, Ronan did not write anything down, but instead read the tourist's impressions of Lourmaran.

“I like Lourmaran because the people I meet here have changed from addressing me as ‘you’ to ‘you’, which means they like me.”

After reading the first paragraph, Ronan couldn't help but smile.

This tourist has a very unique perspective.

However, in France, using "you" instead of "you" is a very important symbol; many people who have known each other for a lifetime still address each other with "you".

Ronan continued reading.

"I like Lourmarin, where people don't wear designer clothes, just old shirts, shorts and slippers that cost a few dozen francs, yet they receive the greatest friendliness from those around them."

I like Lourmarin because you don't need to keep checking your watch here, since the 'good enough' principle applies.

I love Lourmaran; here, you don't need to watch TV while eating, because that would interfere with the time spent watching the beautiful sunset.

I love Lourmarin. I eat better and healthier than before, but I spend less money.

I love Lourmaran. I've become more active here. I might just want to go for a walk, but I end up playing all day long.

I love Lourmarin because my friends are here: Ronan, Zoe, Cotillard, Vivian, Paulette, and Pierre. Please continue to live happily in Lourmarin for me. I will miss you all!
Thor.

(End of this chapter)