Last Sunday I took the MOB train up from Montreux to Château d’Oex to see the 33rd edition of the Parmigiani International hot air balloon festival. Already on the way you could see balloons come up behind the forest or sail past a house. The sky was coloured with balloons. Conversations on the train went like this:
“Look, there is one!”
“There, down by the river, another one.”
“Mommy, LOOK a balloon!”
There was excitement in the air amongst big and small. The wonder of hot air balloons still trigger a sentiment of something special. The first festival in Château d’Oex began in 1979 with 12 balloons from 5 countries. Today the festival hosts over 100 balloons from around 20 countries! The event attracts visitors from Switzerland and all over Europe.
When the train pulled into the station the platform was full of smiling faces of all nationalities. A blue sign pointed towards the festival grounds. My first stop was the hot air balloon museum. I read the story behind the first hot air balloon and how the Piccard family amazed the world from the stratosphere trip of Auguste in 1931 to the first non-stop world flight of Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones aboard the Breitling Orbiter 3 in 1999. I sat with my eyes glued to the screen watching a film of their trip that left me in wonder. http://www.espace-ballon.ch/
As I left the museum I moved up the steps towards the pretty church on the hill. The view from here down to the balloon ground was perfect. Families were happily having their lunch as they kept an eye on the festival down below. Now it was time to head down to the fenced in ground and get a closer look. Balloons of all colours danced around until they were ready for their flight. Miniature, remote controlled balloons were being examined as well. A black solar balloon called Solis Nebula was being appraised with comments coming from a speaker. This ultra light ecological balloon uses radiation from the sun to gain buoyancy. It did not seem as spectacular as the others at first but it surely was an innovation. www.ballonsolaires-solis-nebula.com
Maybe I will take that passenger flight someday and see what it is like soaring over the area in one of those magical hot air balloons.
