It takes a lot to get me out of bed at 4:30am—usually, the fear of missing a flight. Yesterday morning, I was afraid of missing a flight, but I wasn’t headed to the airport. Instead, I drove to Parc de la Baie for the chance to get airborne during the Gatineau Hot Air Balloon Festival.
I’d tried to take a flight Wednesday night but the weather didn’t cooperate. Hot air balloons need just the right combination of winds, air temperature and humidity to fly well, so there’s always the chance that a flight will be cancelled for safety reasons. (That’s just fine with me; better safe than stuck in a tree, I always say.)
But Friday was a perfect day for flying. I arrived at the park about 5:30am, along with a cluster of other media types, pilots and volunteers. In the case of these colourful balloons and the spectacular early morning views, a picture really is worth a thousand words. So I’ll let the photos do the talking from this point on. Many thanks to pilot Danielle Francoeur and her cheerful crew for a memorable morning!
As some balloons took to the skies, crews prepared to fill other envelopes (the technical term for the balloon part) with air. Photo by Laura Byrne Paquet.
The wide variety of balloon shapes made the park grounds look like a children’s cartoon come to life. Photo by Laura Byrne Paquet.
Green Island and Rideau Falls from the air. Photo by Laura Byrne Paquet.
The obligatory hot air balloon iPhone selfie. It was at about this point that I suddenly realized the foolishness of holding my cell phone out over the edge of the balloon basket. It was a long way down. Photo by Laura Byrne Paquet.
I could have looked at this Ottawa River view all day, but the winds blew us on. Photo by Laura Byrne Paquet.
A fire-hydrant-shaped balloon about to land in the parking lot of the Star Cité cinema in Gatineau. Photo by Laura Byrne Paquet.
Gatineau’s Plateau neighbourhood from the air. So many pools! Photo by Laura Byrne Paquet.
My attempt at an arty shot: a closeup of the crew packing up the balloon at the end of the flight. Photo by Laura Byrne Paquet.
As you can see in this shot, we landed in a scrapyard! Perhaps not the most scenic spot, but when a balloon wants to land, it wants to land. Photo by Laura Byrne Paquet.
I flew in the balloon as a guest of Outaouais Tourism and the Gatineau Hot Air Balloon Festival, which neither reviewed nor approved this post.
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If you go
The Gatineau Hot Air Balloon Festival runs until Labour Day. As well as balloon rides, there are concerts, kids activities and more. Balloon rides cost $200 per person and last from 20 to 90 minutes, depending on the weather (mine was about an hour).