1986: My Happy Life in Provence

Chapter 493 Talking is boring, let's get practical.

There are four fountains on Mirabo Avenue.

Continuing along the street past the Round Pavilion Fountain, you will arrive at the 'Nine Codes Fountain'.

The Round Pavilion Fountain is also known as the 'Three Goddess Fountain' because three goddesses are carved on the top of the fountain.

The Nine Codes Fountain also has another name: 'The Sheep and Goat Tavern'.

It is said that in the past, when the sheep flocks of Arles moved to different pastures, they would pass through Aix-en-Provence. The sheep and goats would drink and rest here before continuing their journey. As a result, the edge of this fountain is very low. Even today, every summer, thirsty short-legged dogs still like to come here to find water.

Continuing past the Nine Codes Fountain, the next one is the 'Hot Fountain'.

If the Nine Codes Fountain is a summer favorite for tourists and animals, then in winter, the hot fountain must be the most popular spot on Via Mirabeau – it has a year-round supply of natural spring water at 17 or 18 degrees Celsius, and it's drinkable.

Zoe once told Ronan that Aix-en-Provence was founded by the Romans in 123 BC, and for the next few centuries it was constantly at war, ruled or conquered by the Ambrosians, Teutons, Visigoths, Franks, Lombards, Saracens and Angevins, before finally coming under the control of the French royal family in 1487.

Back in the pre-Christian era, when this land was still called 'Six Rivers', it was this hot spring that attracted the Romans, bringing the name Aix to the world's attention.

The spring water is said to have terrifying healing properties, including promoting female fertility, treating thyroid problems, and relieving swollen lymph nodes.

"Is it really that amazing?" Ronan's story piqued the women's curiosity, and they stood by the pool, hesitating whether to take a sip.

Ronan shrugged:

"That's what Zoe said."

In Lourmaran, Zoe is a more convincing figure than Ronan.

Hearing that Zoe had told this story, the women and girls no longer hesitated, and like the other tourists, they cupped the fountain water in their hands and carefully took a sip.

Ronan followed suit and found that the water temperature was similar to that of summer bath water—not too hot, but not so hot that it would suddenly tighten the skin.

The water tasted different from what he had imagined. He was prepared for it to taste terrible, given all the legendary benefits it was said to have. But it had no bubbles, not even a trace of sulfur, and he couldn't taste any magical power in it at all. It was just ordinary warm water.

Ronan took another sip, shook his hand, and joked:

"Afterwards, I will pay close attention to the condition of my thyroid and lymph nodes. If I do not develop any related diseases, it means that this water may really be effective."

A girl whispered something in Isabel's ear after she also drank from the spring. The next second, the two young girls were engaged in a chase on Mirabeau Avenue, with Isabel's neck turning red as she chased after them.

“Let’s go, let’s go to the ‘King René’s Fountain’.” Ronan laughed and chased after them. “The competition venue is nearby.”

The René Fountain was built to commemorate René, a valiant man admired by later generations.

René was a king with a rich history, mainly reflected in his numerous titles.

He was born during the reign of the Angevin dynasty. Because his wife Isabella was also the Duke of Lorraine, after the death of his father-in-law, Duke Charles II of Lorraine, René inherited the Duchy of Lorraine based on his wife Isabella's rights.

But this was just one of René's many titles. This learned king, who was also quite talented in writing poetry, later became the nominal King of Sicily and King of Jerusalem by a twist of fate. He was described by later generations as "a man with many crowns but no kingdoms".

The René King Fountain was not built because of his political influence, but because René was a major contributor to the introduction of turkeys, silkworms and Muscat grapes to Provence. He also sponsored the arts and encouraged the development of the arts industry.

The introduction of grapes and the patronage of the arts alone were enough to ensure that the people of Provence would forever remember this great king.

The statue of King René stands above the fountain, with a stack of books at his feet, holding a token in one hand and a bunch of grapes in the other, overlooking the entire Via Mirabeau through the lush green trees.

Near the first pavilion fountain, only some promotional materials about the dessert competition can be seen, but near the René King Fountain at the end, areas have been marked out, and it looks like a group of contestants will be arranged in each space.

In addition, many buildings in the vicinity are decorated with elements related to desserts or food.

Ronan saw two chef-like figures on a building on the south side of Via Mirabeau, presumably set up to coincide with the dessert competition.

Lia wanted to get into preparations as soon as possible, so she went to ask around the area where their competition area was.

Ronan stood under the building with the chef doll hanging on it, head tilted back, lost in thought.

"What are you looking at?" Isabelle asked Ronan breathlessly as she returned from the chase.

Ronan said thoughtfully:
"I'll be wearing this chef's robe on the day of the competition. I'm a little nervous and excited about it."

Ronan has never worn a chef's uniform since the restaurant opened, this will be the first time.

"What's there to be nervous or excited about?" Isabel asked, puzzled.

Ronan looked away. He wasn't quite sure where this feeling came from either, and could only try his best to explain:
"Maybe this outfit is strongly associated with my profession? Wearing it makes me a chef, which feels quite novel. Although I've been a chef for a long time, it seems like no one has ever treated me as one. This is the first time I've appeared in the public eye as a 'chef'."

“Zoe said the same thing to you,” Leah’s voice came from behind. “She made you a special ‘battle robe’. It’s in my box. I’ll get it for you in a bit. Let’s go to the preparation room first. The staff showed me where it is.”

"Did Zoe make this?" Ronan asked, holding his chef's uniform with obvious delight.

Besides his name Ronan, his chef's robe also features several animal patterns on the sleeves and collar: Marseille, Little Black, and Huhu. It's clear that these are Zoe's creations.

Leah smiled and sighed:

“Zoe wanted to embroider them herself, but that’s not something you can learn in a few days. Neither my grandmother nor I are good at hand embroidery, so these patterns were custom-made and pasted on.”

Ronan touched the patterns as if he were touching Zoe's hand:
"She went to a lot of trouble."

The chef's uniform had a design handmade by his girlfriend, featuring their favorite little animals, making it feel as if Zoe and the children were fighting alongside Ronan.

It's no exaggeration to say that Ronan was already fired up before the match even started, as if he couldn't wait to go to the René King Fountain to make desserts!
"We must bring the trophy back with us," Ronan said, clutching his clothes.

A confident smile appeared on Leah's face:
"It definitely will, not only for us, but also for those who love us."

The following day, Ronan declined all requests for visits, not only from the organizing committee member Llorente, sponsor Bernard, the avid art lover Ms. Sanson, and various Provençal celebrities he had met at the F1 Grand Prix, and devoted himself entirely to preparing for the race with Leah.

After the competition venue was set up, he and Lia were the first group of contestants to go in and make adjustments. They replaced all the props that could be replaced within the rules with familiar ones, and stayed there for several hours.

The women and girls who came along weren't idle either, cleaning the preparation area spotless. They polished everything, from the equipment provided by the organizing committee to their own tools, until they shone like mirrors. Since this competition had a wine sponsor, they couldn't display Stellar rosé on the tables like they did with the bread competition. Instead, they added woven elements to the preparation area and prominently displayed the names of the Chinese restaurant and Lourmaran. Of course, all of this was arranged by Ronan.

After leaving Mirabo Avenue, Ronan and Leah returned to the hotel and held a long tactical meeting to discuss what to do in tomorrow's match.

The division of labor was decided when we were in Lourmaran, and we practiced it several times, so we were very skilled at it.

However, I only found out about the subject the night before I left for Aix.

Since arriving in Aix, I haven't had a chance to get started, and there's still no consensus on how to present the theme of 'almonds and chocolate' tomorrow.

There were several drawings in the notebook in front of Ronan and Leah, which were dessert designs drawn by Ronan.

Leah drew circles on two of them:

"Let's take these two. One focuses on 'form,' and the other focuses on 'meaning.' These two works are enough to demonstrate our full strength."

Their team has two advantages: Ronan's masterful styling skills and Leah's understanding of local dessert preferences. If they focus on these two points, their performance in tomorrow's competition will definitely be good.

Leah believes that most contestants will only present one piece tomorrow, because 90 minutes is quite tight. They already have an advantage to present two pieces.

Ronan crossed his arms and thought for a while, then finally tapped the two patterns twice:
“Okay, let’s make these two. Tomorrow, when the competition starts, I will assist you in making the chocolate base, roasted almonds, and almond white chocolate, etc., according to the plan. If any changes occur, we will adapt accordingly and communicate at any time.”

The dessert competition has received strong support from the Aix-en-Provence government, and the total number of visitors during the competition week is expected to exceed 35, making it one of the most high-profile events in Provence.

On the day of the competition, the contestants arrived early, hoping to gain as much exposure as possible through this event.

Ronan and his group arrived at the René Fountain on Via Mirabeau more than two hours early, only to find that they were not among the first to arrive.

Several groups of competitors have already started interacting with visitors in the preparation area.

Moreover, the form of interaction was something Ronan had never imagined.

Some were handing out flyers, some were displaying all sorts of photos, and others were loudly promoting their restaurants, dessert shops, or bakeries—blatantly and without any scruples.

Actually, thinking about it, it makes sense. The organizing committee didn't say that you can't 'introduce' yourself before the competition, did they?

This situation ignited Isabel's fighting spirit. Stealing customers was her specialty, wasn't this her home turf?

"Thank goodness I'm here!" Isabel strode into their designated preparation area.

Before they even stopped walking, they started shouting out their wares.

Ladies and gentlemen, please look here—

Isabel had gone to the market with Ronan and also tried to attract customers for restaurants on the desolate winter streets. She could rattle off promotional slogans off the top of her head, and with her pretty face and pleasant voice, she immediately attracted the attention of tourists.

Ronan was the second to react and quickened his pace.

Alan and several other women pulled him and Leah, who was following closely behind, aside and said in a very reassuring tone and with a reassuring expression:

"You two focus on preparing for the competition, and don't worry about these things. We swear that before the competition, we'll make this place the center of attention."

After saying that, the women and girls rushed over aggressively.

Ronan quickly caught up with them:

“Isabel is enough on her own. Wouldn’t it be better if we did some actual publicity? Allen, why don’t you go to the market nearby and buy some of the freshest fruit right now?”

The first Aix-en-Provence Dessert Competition is the most successful event in terms of sponsorship by the Provence Food Association this year.

In the past, food events would only attract one or two customers at most, but because this event was closely related to art, several sponsors came in all at once.

In Provence, anything related to art immediately attracts more attention.

Due to the strong sponsorship, both the Aix-en-Provence government and the Provence Food Association paid more attention to the event, arriving even earlier than the contestants.

Led by the planner, Llorente, the leaders first inspected the surrounding promotional elements and billboards. Llorente said that as long as tourists are within two kilometers of Mirabeau Avenue, they will definitely see their advertisements.

After watching the promotional material, they moved on to the competition venue.

Although there is still some time before the competition begins, the battle has already begun – the contestants have started their first round of competition before the competition even started, and the competition is about who can attract more tourists' attention before the competition.

"It's lively here." Llorente was quite pleased with the atmosphere.

An event should be lively and fun.

A government official next to him said with a smile:
"I heard that the shops participating in this competition are all star shops from all over Provence, and they are indeed different."

Llorente told them that the invited competitors were of an exceptionally high level, making it a truly spectacular event.

Moreover, the contestants are not only highly skilled, but also renowned in their respective regions.

Llorente couldn't stop smiling:
"Does anyone have a favorite player in mind? Shall we go check them out?"

The competition was tailor-made for Aix, so the organizing committee naturally paid more attention to the local teams. However, there were many tourists on site, and the number of teams competing was more than fifty, making the situation quite complicated. They couldn't immediately identify which teams were from Aix.

"The contestants from AX will definitely be the most popular," someone in the queue reminded. "The event has been promoted in AX for more than half a month, and there will definitely be a lot of local people coming today. They will definitely be interested in local shops."

But one of the staff members standing next to Llorente said apologetically:
"Sorry, the most popular player right now isn't local, but from Lourmaran."

Several people present raised their voices:
"Lourmaran?"

No, why?

(End of this chapter)