fly over the Loire Valley in a hot air balloon

To the question “Who volunteers for a hot air balloon flight?” ”, I respond with a shy “yes”. Isn't it a little too cold up there in these early morning hours in the middle of November? Full of curiosity, however, I let myself be tempted.

An appointment is given to me at 7 a.m. in the Intermarché parking lot in Chadrac, the time at which the takeoff location will be decided, because this is defined according to the direction of the wind.

Around fifty hot air balloons are due to take part in the event this weekend, and, on this Friday, around thirty are already there, all decked out in their finest attire.

A 360-degree panorama above the Haute-Loire

The thirty pilots and their crew, without whom nothing would be possible, then set about the preparations. It’s a real anthill that then becomes active. The sails are spread, the baskets are suspended, the balloons are inflated using a huge fan. Then comes the moment when the sail must straighten. The burners start spitting everywhere and the show begins. The basket is then straightened and you have to take your place, and here I am with the pilot and his teammate ready to lift me into the basket. The ground then moves away and a 360 degree panorama appears above the Loire valley which our boat will follow to Taulhac, a strategic point where the pilot will decide to land. “We must not forget that the only boss is the wind,” Patrick, 62 years old, 6,000 flight hours on the clock, reminds me. He came with his crew from Belgium where he makes… sails for hot air balloons.

A flight almost 250 meters high

“We only fly in the morning or evening. The sun must not be at its zenith, because there must be a temperature difference of plus 70 degrees between the outside air and the air inside the balloon. If it is too hot, then the temperature becomes too high and it would damage the sail,” the pilot told me.

So it never gets cold in the basket. As for the noise that reaches us at this altitude on our route, it is that of the hum of the Loire, regularly surpassed by that of the burners which must be reactivated when we lose altitude.

The moment of landing arrives, the most critical, you have to think of everything. This is where you discover what a good pilot is. We must anticipate the direction of the wind at low altitude, find a suitable field, check that it is accessible to those who come to pick us up and follow us by sight, without forgetting the risk of electrical wires. Successful smooth landing!