Ballon Air de Paris

NileGuide Expert tip:

Call ahead to make sure the weather is suitable for flying

Description:

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  It's fitting that today's visitors to Paris are able to take a ride in a hot-air balloon, since it was in this city that some of the first balloon flights were made by the Montgolfier brothers. This modern tethered hot-air balloon, situated in the modern Parc André-Citroën on the banks of the Seine, was first launched in 1999. Since then about half a million people have taken to the air in its basket which rises to a height of about 150 metres above ground. At 22 metres wide and 32 metres high the balloon itself is said to be the world's biggest and the basket can hold 30 adults at a time. The trip gained a new, eco dimension in 2008 when a system was installed to enable everyone to gauge the day's air quality by the changing colour of the the balloon. Green signals good, orange mediocre and red poor.
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