Sleepless nights in Golden Area

An activity in the countryside

Like every summer since 1994, every Friday evening, a strange luminous snake criss-crosses the Grande Champagne, around the town of Segonzac, a few kilometres from Cognac; I should rather say two snakes, because for more than ten years, and the success of this event, there are two departures spaced out by three quarters of an hour.

Thirty vehicles make up each of them, in which 120 people have taken their places, with only one attitude for all, to open their eyes and ears wide in order to discover the circuit.

This event has existed since 1994 thanks to the will of a small core group, but it could not take place without the presence of many volunteers, as well as the “guardian angels” who secure the route, 150 people in all.

Why do we talk about ” the Pays Jaune d’Or  “? We have to go back to 1829 to find the first use of this formula; the wine growers had to register their sales of alcohol, the customs supplied the “acquis”, and it would be the latter who would have added this term; we spoke of the “Jaune d’Or” acquis. (customs document)

The tour lasts 3 to 4 hours and ends at a producer’s for a drink, usually a Cognac Tonic. A tour is presented two years in a row. This year the title is: Où vas-tu Basile? a song that used to be played in our countryside.

It is an opportunity to travel back in time, where each stage is an opportunity for the spectator to contemplate different scenes that can occupy up to 30 amateur actors; the soundtrack is pre-recorded to avoid the stage fright that could strike these apprentice actors. What a journey! Judge for yourself:

From the first scene, we are in the time of the Jacqueries born from the heavy taxes crushing the peasants to finance the war against the Holy Roman Empire;

A traveller introduces us to Pastel and the Land of plenty. The next one shares with us the concerns of producers following the continental blockade.
We take advantage of this trip back in time to get a feel for the life of the Bohemians, but also the hazards such as phylloxera which ruined our region for a time. But the years go by and during a “big country fair” we learn a little more about the life of our ancestors leading us directly to the appearance of the train and the car. A small local train, the “petit Mairat”, used to run to the Rouillac fair on the 27th of the month.

This year the circuit is relatively short, as it is located in the communes of Salle d’Angles and Genté, but the magic is still as strong as ever, so next year choose Cognac as your summer destination and don’t miss Les nuits blanches en Pays Jaune d’Or, there is no doubt that you will be won over.