Magic is the MOONLIGHT
France|May 2020
A night of summer sorcery in the Sancerrois casts a spell over Deborah Nash
Deborah Nash
Magic is the MOONLIGHT

Bué, 5km south of Sancerre, rarely makes an appearance in French guidebooks and if it does, it’s usually in connection with the grape. The village lies in the bowl of a valley surrounded by vine-threaded limestone slopes cultivated by its 300 or so inhabitants. The place is steeped in wine. During the Middle Ages, large tracts of land were owned by the monks of Chalivoy Abbey, who celebrated the ‘divin’ of the Holy Communion with goblets filled with their local ‘vin’. Paradoxically, it was a man of the cloth who introduced the first ‘Nuit des Sorciers’ to the village in 1946 and it was this annual August festival I had come to see.

I arrived in Bué on a Friday afternoon, the day before the witches and ghouls came out to spook me. Winemaker Dominique Roger drove me round the hills in a 1940s American jeep, taking me through tunnels spun from sylvan shadows, climbing up to the crossroads of ‘Marloup’ (‘bad wolf’). Here, at what felt like the edge of the world, Dominique told me the story of the witches of Bué.

War wounds

It all began in the 16th century when the kingdom of France was torn apart by the Wars of Religion. The Huguenot population of nearby Sancerre were holed up in their hillside fortress against the king’s army for eight months. “It was interminable,” said Dominique, and many starved.

Against this febrile backdrop, seething with attacks and enmity, a group of village men were accused of practising witchcraft at the Marloup crossroads by a 12-year-old boy. The men were tortured, stood trial at the Château de Beaujeu, found guilty and hanged then burnt at the scene of their crime in 1582.

Denne historien er fra May 2020-utgaven av France.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

Denne historien er fra May 2020-utgaven av France.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

FLERE HISTORIER FRA FRANCESe alt
Paindemic In Paris
France

Paindemic In Paris

For American actor and writer Alexander Burnett, a shortage of bread at his local boulangerie was one of the biggest challenges of lockdown in his adopted home city

time-read
5 mins  |
December 2020
VEULES-LES-ROSES
France

VEULES-LES-ROSES

Between the white cliffs of the Côte d’Albâtre and the bucolic landscapes of the Pays de Caux, discover a village that combines coast and country,

time-read
4 mins  |
December 2020
Taking the BISCUIT
France

Taking the BISCUIT

France is known for its exquisite pâtisserie and extravagant gâteaux but the not-so-humble biscuit deserves recognition too

time-read
5 mins  |
December 2020
PICTURE PERFECT PISTE
France

PICTURE PERFECT PISTE

After a decade away from the slopes Janet Brice finds her ski legs in val d'arly, a hidden gem in the shadow of Mount Blanc

time-read
8 mins  |
December 2020
Let there BE LIGHT
France

Let there BE LIGHT

Lyon’s annual Fête des Lumières brightens up the darkest of December nights in spectacular fashion, finds David Atkinson on a winter visit to the Rhône capital

time-read
4 mins  |
December 2020
Shop ‘til YOU DROP
France

Shop ‘til YOU DROP

In the first of our new Insight guides, Helen Parkinson delights in the French shopping experience

time-read
4 mins  |
December 2020
Floating YOUR BOAT
France

Floating YOUR BOAT

Spending a day on the River Seine in Paris, Heidi Fuller-love samples some of the city’s top entertainment that can be enjoyed afloat

time-read
6 mins  |
December 2020
Creamy Dijon Chicken With Bacon And Spinach
France

Creamy Dijon Chicken With Bacon And Spinach

Enjoy this hearty dish from Bisous & Brioche, a cookbook shot on location in Burgundy

time-read
2 mins  |
November 2020
A Moveable Feast
France

A Moveable Feast

Philip Sweeney embarks on a voyage gourmand along the Vallée de la Gastronomie travelling from Dijon to Marseille

time-read
4 mins  |
November 2020
BOND RETOUR 7
France

BOND RETOUR 7

To celebrate the return of everyone’s favourite globe-trotting British intelligence officer in No Time to Die, Helen Parkinson rounds up five of James Bond’s top cross-Channel escapades

time-read
2 mins  |
November 2020