The story of Jules Desjourneys
no to names.
The life of Jules Desjourneys is nothing ordinary, like a child's tale whispered to those who dare to plunge into the unknown. It doesn't need to be told, because it needs to be lived and felt in every fibre of the soul. For those who are prepared to shatter the surface of appearances, it offers a journey to the very limits of existence, a whole world to be explored in its entirety, without lies or betrayal. The rest are just dreams that dissipate in the light of dawn.
In the beginning there was nothing but Earth, Sky and Time, the primordial forces of the Universe. One day the three entities met. Earth and Sky joined in an endless embrace under the gaze of Time. Life was born, slow and majestic: a head and then a body. This being, the Walker, had waited centuries to take shape. At his feet lay the memories of those who had lived before him, and in his imagination danced the promises of the future. When he opened his eyes, he felt the naive wonder of immense tenderness. And so the Walker was born and took to the road.
On the roads, the Walker left nothing to chance and let himself be carried along solely by his inherited instinct. Wherever he went, he learnt to talk to nature through wine. Every country was different and so was every wine. He travelled the world. He discovered history. He listened. He learnt. He connected with the sensitivity of the places he passed through the simple strength, intensity and tenderness of the nectars they were willing to offer him. That was how the world spoke to him.
One day, in the course of his wanderings, he reached the hills of Beaujolais, where he had a strange encounter: a double, almost a twin, an upright man called Jules le Sage. Rooted in a soil of sand and stone, he didn't move, but when he stretched out his arms, he drew lines in space like a fabric of life and hope. In the mind of Jules Desjourneys arose the revelation of a primary truth: belonging to this infinite universe.
Time passed. The peace of beings and things was disturbed by a thud followed by a growing din. Chaos triumphed. Jules felt his poor innocent heart beat with anguish and fear. He resumed his walk, determined to find the source and cause of the deafening cacophony of this unbearable clamour. At the end of his journey, he came to a large table where some giants were sitting. These massive, insatiable beings were gorging themselves without restraint.
They were known as ‘The Names’. They ate, devoured and drank without ever paying attention to their surroundings. The Earth ? They trampled it mercilessly. The Time ? They ignored it. Jules watched them and an immense anger grew inside him. He realised that these giants had no other aim than their own appetite and their own glory. This grotesque feast filled him with disgust. He left them to their infamous feasts. He set off in search of a place where Nature could still breathe.
In the vineyards of Beaujolais, Jules put down his bag. He knelt down with his ear to the ground. He felt a breath speaking to him in a kind of confession, an intimate song that only loving attention could understand. Little by little, everything rose, grew, became clear and pure again.
Then the Names, giants blinded by their own proud vanity, began to tremble. The ground gave way beneath them and their arrogance melted like snow in the sun. They shrank to shadows in the new-found nobility of life. Jules Desjourneys had restored harmony to creation. He fell asleep forever and gently disappeared in a symphony of light and sound...
Today, philosophers say that it is possible to rediscover the aphorisms and teachings of Jules Desjourneys. All you have to do is go to the place where Time seems suspended, listen to the calls of the Earth and, breaking the silence, hear the voice of the man who dared to say no to the Names and give Nature back its original freedom.
