18th Century Resilience: Jean-Luc's Journey from Lyon to Holland
Life's Positive Side: Resilience in 18th-Century France
Life has its positive side.
The Hard Winter in Lyon (1778–1779)
We move to the eighteenth century in Lyon, France. Jean-Luc, nineteen, was a humble boy who worked at his family's establishment, the Lambers' Bakery. It was the only bakery in Lyon, so people relied on it.
In the meantime, King Louis XVI and his court were holding lavish banquets and giving parties, funded by the taxes the population had to pay every month.
Between the winter of 1778 and 1779 came the coldest winter that history had ever recorded. People got sick and died. Lyon became impoverished, and Jean-Luc grew unhappy. He had to spend time looking after his brothers while working in the bakery. Jean-Luc's father became sick and died a few days later. The harvest froze, and nobody could buy food.
Economic Crisis and Desperation
In Jean-Luc's family, the situation was dramatic: wheat increased its price, making bread production almost impossible. One loaf of bread cost a farm worker's entire salary. Poverty spread all over France, and the King did nothing about it. People were desperate, and civil unrest broke out across the country.
A New Hope: Journey to Holland
Jean-Luc decided to go to Holland to find a better job and help his family. In 1790, Jean-Luc arrived in Holland, in a small village called Liben. The first days were miserable, and he felt helpless. He slept in a hotel, paying with the money he had earned throughout his life.
Love and Success in Liben
From the first time he saw Marine, the girl who worked in the hotel, he felt like a million butterflies in his stomach. In November, he found his first job as a farmer. It was a good position; they paid him a decent salary, and Jean-Luc immediately sent a part of his earnings to his family in France.
Happiness arrived for Jean-Luc's family, but not only happiness—love had blossomed between Jean-Luc and Marine. One year later, Jean-Luc bought a little house with Marine, and their wedding was held there.
A Family Reunited and Fortune Found
The month after the wedding, Jean-Luc sent a letter to his mother, asking her to move to Liben with them. His mother and brothers arrived two months later and lived next door to Jean-Luc's house.
Luck arrived again: the landowner died and left lands for Jean-Luc in his will. Jean-Luc learned that life wasn't easy, but with an optimistic attitude, dark times became brighter.