Dimitri on his motorcycle

"My name is Dimitri Naissant, I am 17 years old. I live in a country village in the Charente, near to Cognac where the famous brandy is made. It is exactly on the 0 degrees line in Western France. I live with my brother Gregory, who is 12, in our house on 'rue basse' (the bottom street). Our house is about 200 years old and is made of stone. The roofs are still constructed using roman tiles which have been used for centuries to keep out the rain. We sometimes have huge summer rain storms called orages, but the old tiles keep out the wet. In the basement of the house is the cave where we make Pineau de Charentes. It's made with fresh grape juice which is stopped from fermenting by adding brandy spirit. It tastes sweet and strong and is a bit like sherry.

"When I'm at home I get about on my mobilette. It's a small motor bike which you pedal like a bike to start. Mine is a Peugot 103. Most teenagers have got one in France.

 
Dimitri's house in Villejesus

Dimitri is a volunteer firefighter

"During the week I go to school in Angoulême which is a city about 15 miles away. I went to school close to my house until I was fifteen, then I started to go to the college. I get up at 7am, have my breakfast in the school self-service canteen and then attend lessons. 'Lights out' is at 10pm, but I don't go to sleep then. I have specialised in sciences: biology, chemistry and physics. I'm in my last year at school.

"I am a voluntary fireman, a sapeur-pompier, at the weekends. I intend to go to Bordeaux in 2000 when I leave school to get qualifications to be a full time fireman. There are two teams of teams of voluntary firemen and six fulltime pompiers at our local station in Aigre.

"I play the keyboard in my room, mostly for myself although I have a friend with an accordion who sometimes comes round. I play mostly French songs like Claude François's 'le Téléphone pleure', 'The telephone weeps' and I'm also into sixties stuff like the Beatles.

Dimitri playing his keyboard

Dimitri's favourite food - snails (cagouilles).

"The whole family helps keep the garden in trim. We grow tomatoes, potatoes, green beans and leeks. It's enough to keep us going throughout most of the year.

"We eat snails which are called cagouilles in this area not the usual French name: escargots. We collect them from the fields and hedgerows after it's been raining. My mum Christiane puts a hundred or more into a pan with sausage, garlic, tomatoes and herbs and makes a stew which fills you up very quickly. The Villejesus fountain in the square is in the shape of a snail. Dimitri repainted it last year.

"Thierry, my dad is the 'agent d'entrien communal a Villejesus'. That means that he is in charge of keeping the roads and buildings in good order. He's a jack of all trades building, gardening and looking after the town of Villejesus with his colleague Eric.

"The annual fair in Villejesus features a cycle race, a fairground, entertainment and a grand feu d'artifice, a firework display when thousands of people come from all the neighbouring villages. The village bar which is called 'La Cagouille' stays open late for the three days of the fête."

the bar 'La Cagouille' in Villejesus

Audrey who sometimes works in 'La Cagouille'

Audrey, the Grand daughter of Marise the land lady helps out in the bar for three exhausting days. She is 17 and goes to the same school as Dimitri.  Audrey takes on all newcomers to Bar La Cagouille at pool. She is super-skilled with the cue and few can beat her.She, too, has wheels: a new red scooter which tears up and down rue basse announcing she is arriving home.

The Villejesus cycling race, two and a half hours of super fast cycling is around a circuit of eight kilometres. Twelve laps are ridden with the finishing line up a gruelling up-hill gradient.

the cycling festival in Villejesus

Photos for On the Line by Ken Patterson

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