A Christmas gift to remember
For Christmas 2003, my husband, Bernie, and I decided to give each other an extra-nice present: we would take a 9-day “Hot Air Balloon Flight Over the Alps” tour in January ’04. Two days of the tour would be spent at the International Balloon Festival in Château d’Oex, Switzerland.
This unique tour is organized and operated by the Buddy Bombard Society (333 Pershing Way, West Palm Beach, FL 33401; phone 800/862-8537, e-mail travel@bombardsociety.com). Buddy is a balloon pilot, himself, and has operated these tours over 27 years. The Bombard Society does similar tours in Austria, Italy, France, Turkey and the Czech Republic.
The tour, which began and ended in Geneva, cost us $12,446 per person, all inclusive. We took one day extra before and after the tour.
We were picked up in Geneva on Jan. 20 and driven to Gstaad, where we stayed at the beautiful and cozy Le Grand Chalet. This hotel is the epitome of Swiss chalet living. Its restaurant is one of the 100 best in Switzerland, and the proprietors are always on the premises. Our room had all the amenities of a first-class hotel, not to mention a breathtaking view of snow-covered mountains and, below, the city of Gstaad.
Our daily schedule included having a wonderful breakfast at the hotel, leaving around 10 a.m., driving to a spot suitable for takeoff and going up and enjoying the pristine beauty of Swiss mountains for about three to 3½ hours. We would have a gourmet picnic lunch with wine in the air while enjoying unlimited 360-degree views and fresh mountain air.
On the first day the departure was delayed because of adverse weather, but around 1 p.m. we got the green light and went up. It was an awesome flight. We could see Jungfrau, Mönch and Eiger in one direction, then turn around and see the Matterhorn and even Mont Blanc in France in the distance. Our pilot said the visibility may have been 100 miles. Seeing these snow-covered mountains all the way around and shining in the sun was just unbelievable.
There were nine people in our group, so we had two balloons, our two groups of four and five alternating balloons each day. The balloons were HUGE, each with about 210,000 cubic feet of air space, and made of taffeta. Before takeoff, the ground crew (about six for each balloon) rolled out the balloons, blew them up halfway with two huge fans and then lit the propane tank torches to further inflate and lift the balloons.
When our balloon stood up, the basket would stand up too and we would get inside. The takeoff was so quiet and smooth, we didn’t realize we were airborne.
With a hot-air balloon, “flying” is not really the correct term; it’s more like floating. And since the balloon drifts with the small air movements, we didn’t feel any windchill onboard. The basket didn’t sway at all, and we enjoyed our lunches on board with wine in fine glasses. We even went up to 10,500 feet and didn’t feel any altitude — too busy enjoying the view all the time. One time, our pilot drifted so close to the tops of towering pine trees that I was able to get a pinecone as a souvenir.
The balloon pilot was in constant contact with the “chasers,” or ground crew, and by the time we came down the chasers would be there. As we neared the ground, the pilot would drop a couple of ropes and the chasers would maneuver the balloon to a safe landing on a trailer pulled by a truck.
After landing, a little table would be set up on the snow with chilled champagne and snacks to celebrate our safe flight. The chasers then would take us back to our hotel, but they were so accommodating that they also stopped anyplace we asked for shopping, etc.
The fourth and fifth days were the International Balloon Festival. About 50 colorful balloons came from all over Europe and took off simultaneously. There were a few odd-shaped ones, such as a Swiss flying cow, a 100-foot-tall Scotsman (with bagpipe and kilt), a fox face, the head of van Gogh, a clown face (whose hair stood up when the balloon descended) and a replica of a Jaguar car.
We could not go up on the last two days of our stay because of the snow and wind. One of those days, we went to a cheese museum and shop to see how the famous Swiss cheese is made and aged. Then we went to Bern for a wonderful lunch plus shopping and sightseeing. The last day also was snowy, so we spent some time in Gstaad and later at the Château Gruyere, famous for fondue cheese.
In addition to the welcome and farewell dinners at our hotel restaurant, we were taken by the Bombard Society to many wonderful restaurants for 4- and 5-course dinners.
Buddy himself could not join us this tour, but he was very concerned about our comfort and care. He called us from Florida the first evening of our flight to see if everything had gone well. He called each member of our group as well. We thought it was extremely thoughtful of him.
We feel this was a present to each other that will be one of the most memorable ones we will cherish for many many years to come.
MIYAKO STORCH
Santa Barbara, CA