Except for the fact that you have to get up before dawn…
…a hot air balloon ride over a scenic countryside is one of the most peaceful, beautiful things you can do.
This is what we did on Day 5 of our canal cruise aboard European Waterways’ luxury hotel barge, La Belle Epoque. You will find links to all of the articles I have written about the first four days in the last post in the series, A Barge Cruise on the Burgundy Canals, Day 4, Part 2 Ravières, Dinner at Restaurant Les Millésimes, Noyers-sur-Serein. Each article includes lots of pictures and information about pretty much everything that we saw, ate and drank.
The balloon ride was different from the other excursions we made from the boat. This was not included in the cost of the cruise (the only thing all week that wasn’t) but was an optional extra. Valeria and I, along with two of our fellow passengers and our on-board Chef, Katy, were game and so we booked the trip. Also, there was no specific itinerary or sites we knew we would see as it all depended, literally, on where the wind blew. So this was all about just enjoying the experience, which, for me, included taking pictures.
Since I don’t really have any information to share about what we saw as we floated around the countryside near the commune of Nuits, I decided to convert the usual slide show into a video with a nice musical background. You might want to grab yourself a croissant and a cup of coffee (or, even better, a glass of Champagne) and just sit back, relax and enjoy for 5 minutes or so.
I have some video footage, too, that I may also edit together but, for now, I hope you enjoyed your virtual cruise over the French countryside.
In the next article on this series, we’ll be back on board La Belle Epoque, waiting for us at Ravières. We will set sail again to see more sites and ready for lunch!
France
The author has no affiliation with European Waterways or any of the locations and products described in this article.
All images were taken with a Canon 5D Mark III camera and a Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM Lens or a Tamron AF 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 XR Di LD VC Aspherical (IF) Macro Zoom Lens (now discontinued; replaced by Tamron AFA010C700 28-300mm F/3.5-6.3 Di VC PZD Zoom Lens) using ambient light. Post-processing in Adobe Lightroom® and Adobe Photoshop® with Nik/Google plugins.
