The Montgolfieres Are Here!

The Montgolfieres were seen flying everywhere in the Le Puy-en-Velay area last weekend. 

Montgolfiere is French for hot-air balloon. It was named after the French brothers who invented it.

The annual hot-air balloon festival was held November 10-12. This year there were 50 pilots from 21 different countries. One balloonist even came from England via air to participate. Prior to the weekend local residents could see several balloons launched over the city (see above).  

The French seem to be crazy about hot-air balloons and Le Puy is just one of several festivals that take place annually. This year there were about 1,000 balloons were piloted by 3,000 people, many of them (70%) coming from outside the country. 



A Short History of Ballooning

Hot air balloon in 1783

According to Balloon.org, on September 19, 1783, Pilatre De Rozier, a scientist, launched the first hot air balloon called 'Aerostat Reveillon'. They demonstrated their invention for King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette at the French court in Paris. The passengers were a sheep, a duck and a rooster and the balloon stayed in the air for a grand total of 15 minutes before crashing back to the ground.

The first manned attempt came about 2 months later on  October 15, 1783 with a balloon made by 2 French brothers, Joseph and Etienne Montgolfier. Jacques made a solo flight. The balloon was launched from the centre of Paris and flew for a period of 20 minutes. This was the birth of hot air ballooning!!! The balloon was attached to the ground by a rope. The first free flight, without being attached to the ground, was a few weeks later, on 21 November 1783. It carried Marquis François d'Arlandes and Pilatre de Rozier. Memes.

In 1978, the Double Eagle II became the first balloon to cross the Atlantic, another major benchmark in the History of Ballooning.

The first Pacific crossing was achieved 3 years later in 1981. The Double Eagle V launched from Japan on November 10th and landed 84 hours later in Mendocino National Forest, California. 

Finally, in 1999 the first around the world flight was completed by Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones. Leaving from Switzerland and landing in Africa, they smashed all previous distance records, flying for 19 days, 21 hours and 55 minutes.

Around the World in Eighty Days

Le Tour du Monde en Quatre-vingts Jours is a classic adventure novel by the French writer, JulesVerne that features a hot-air balloon. It was  published in 1873. In the story, Phileas Fogg of London and his newly employed French valet Passepartout attempt to circumnavigate the world in 80 days on a £20,000 wager (the approximate equivalent of £2 million in 2016) set by his friends at the Reform Club. It is one of Verne's most acclaimed works.