Serene Flight in Colour at the Annonay Hot Air Balloon Festival
Zagan the motorhome’s lit up by a hot, bright sun, in the motorhome aire at Beausemblant in the Rhône Valley (N45.21826, E4.83309). To the east of us runs the A7, the Autoroute du Soleil (Motorway of the Sun), while the Rhône River runs a few km to the west. Both lead the way south to Provence. I’ve so far not been out to look around the village, as I’m still half asleep after a 5:30am start SAY WHHHAAATTTT??? yep, 5:30am start this morning for Team Zagan. The reason? The annual Annonay Balloon Festival was in town.
The free motorhome aire in Beausemblant
Back up at the Boulieu les Annonay aire, a British-registered van pulled in. Our curtains twitched and our ears stood up, someone to talk to! We’ve learned over time not to trust reg plates, having met a South African couple in a German van, a few Australians and New Zealanders in British or Dutch vans, and British couples in French vans. Never have we met a French couple in a British van though, until yesterday. Ju popped over and got chatting, as it turned out said couple, Cyrielle and Gildas (and their beautiful girls Kate and Thaïs) are all bi-lingual, having moved from Paris to Norwich eight years back. They’re on the road for a couple of years (check ’em out, here: 1cat4bees.com), and in conversation let on there’s a hot air balloon festival (a balloon being a montgolfière here in France) in Annonay the first weekend of June, which was roughly the next day! Once again our utter lack of planning has paid dividends and landed us somewhere interesting, woo hoo!
After leaving them alone for their evening meal, we read up a little. 235 years ago the Montgolfier brothers, who lived near Annonay and made paper, effectively invented and publicly demonstrated the hot air balloon. No-one quite knew how it worked, or whether flying into the air might mangle our delicate human bodies, so things were understandably a bit excitable at the time (can you imagine the media frenzy these days?). The King of France got a look-see during a demo in Paris, but in fear of damaging his tax payers, decreed only convicted criminals would take part in the inaugural manned flight. Once a few farmyard animals survived a flight unharmed though, he changed his mind, allowing one of the brothers to be the first human to take to the air.
So, these momentous events were being commemorated in a park in Annonay, a couple of kilometres away, with a mass balloon take off at 6:30am. Sensing we might not be popular firing up Zagan at 5:30am, we opted to decamp and join the other seven motorhomes in the car park of the Intermarché supermarket, a few metres from the park entrance. Parked in an area set out for festival traffic, Ju did our laundry in the on-site machines, gave something back by doing some shopping, and we then got a great night’s sleep (these are the co-ords, but overnight parking was probably only tolerated due to the festival: N45.25721, E4.67201).
Thanks to Intermarche Annonay for being so tolerant of motorhomes.
This morning we were in the park right about the time the balloon pilots were arriving and being briefed. Under a pure blue sky, we and hundreds of others stood and watched as 30-odd brightly-coloured balloons were slowly inflated, jostling together for space, and then with a roar drifting upwards in ones and twos, joining the docile herd above. It was a lovely, vibrant yet serene sight.
A montgolfiere arriving! They all came in surprisingly small 4×4-trailer rigs
So many balloons, so little space!
Off they go! Into the sky above Annonay.
I love this shot. 166 years after the Montgolfier flight, the first commercial airliner flew.
Many of the balloon pilots stayed low to start with, allowing as many into the air at the same time, but once the last ones had lifted off, skimming the trees and stadium lights, they all climbed into the breeze, followed on the ground by a steady stream of 4x4s! We watched them grow small, before returning to the van to serve up breakfast and coffee, and take Charlie out. Later on we nipped back in for some of the follow-up events, enjoying some hoop throwing before heading over to the drone demonstration for a surprise. The surprise? We got to fly the things!
And what things! When I think of a drone, I think of a big quadcoptor with a HD camera which smoothly climbs into the sky delivering fantastic shots of people snowboarding off a cliff, taking photos of towns for tourist offices and the like. Not here. These were ‘competition drones’, as Fred told us, an English-speaking pilot who has come to dislike living in Paris partly because he has to drive 40 miles whenever he wants a wee fly (for more, in French, see heliomicro.com). Although their batteries only last a few minutes, these angry black wasps were like greased lightening in the sky. The birds didn’t stand a chance. The pilots wore headsets, which as we got to find out with some more sloth-like models, render a peculiar out-of-body sensation as you feel like you’re hovering 3 feet in the air. With the thing on flying-itself-auto-hover mode, we both managed a bit of flying around the course before upending it into the grass. Fred told us it takes the best pilots years to really get good, that’s our excuse.
Big kid flies drone, badly. If you fancy one, the drones are about £100, and the headsets (which are now much smaller than the one I’ve got on) £400.
Some more low-tech games scattered around the park.
Back past the trapeze artists, practising for a display later in the day, Ju nipped into the chateau for a sneaky peek before we abandoned the field. There was another take-off this evening and again tomorrow morning, followed by a re-enactment of the original flight in the main part of the town, but we were satiated, and after another chat with Cyrielle and Gildas, we headed down here. After driving the wrong way down a one-way street yesterday (cue embarrassed reverse), we almost made a similar mistake today (satnav’s not on the ball in these villages) before squeezing our way over the Rhône with a thank-the-gods-there’s-a-passing-place-in-the-middle, elbow’s-in, narrow bridge.
Happy days! We’ve had a great couple of days, and now we’re being entertained by drumming for a local wedding. Fantastic (hopefully it won’t go on much past 9:30pm though as we’re all red-eyed in here!). A final few photos from the balloon festival folks:
Cheers, Jay
Up, Up and Away! I’ve always fancied a balloon flight; I almost made it a few years ago but after 8 cancellations due to unsuitable British weather, gave up 😞 One of these days…..
What a great day and some brilliant pics. Thanks for posting as ever!
Three of the four travelling minstrels I follow (you journey around telling tales and entertaining we masses, so I think you are the 21st century versions!) ended up watching the balloons. Quelle chance!? Your pictures are simply the best …. thank you for sharing!
Great shots THANKS For sharing. Must have been great to see them.
Love the pictures. Stumbling in to local events is fantastic! Did you guys register for the ‘Crit Air’ scheme?!
Thanks Scott. Nah, not going into any of the cities Crit Air covers. Cheers, Jay
We didn’t hear of it until we were on the road! Aye, think we’ll be avoiding those spots too 😁
Just read up on it, and it also covers several large areas (one on which we’re currently in) which can announce temporary restrictions for the next day. As a foreigner you’re supposed to check the web or an app each evening to see if you can drive the next day (even if you have a sticker, it may not be ‘clean enough’ to allow you to drive). A bit bonkers? We’ll sort out a when we get home. Cheers for the heads-up, Jay
We would have liked to have seen the balloons, isn’t it great when you happen to be in the right place at the right time
Cathy
Hey, that was a pleasure meeting you two and helping you with that drone! :)
Amitiés from Paris!
Thanks again Fred, we really enjoyed the drones! Your ‘Partial English’ was pretty damned good sir! Cheers, Jay
Lovely photos, thanks for sharing them!