Images: Supplied
The ‘Spirit of 1743’ – the magnificent Moët & Chandon hot air balloon will for the first time grace the skies of Southern Africa, in celebration of the 150th anniversary of Moët & Chandon Imperial.
The larger than life cork has soared above 21 countries around the world, as an ambassador of Moët & Chandon’s heritage and an emblem of the House.
The magnificent Durban beachfront and Moses Mabhida Stadium are its backdrop as the ‘Spirit of 1743’s’ flight will mark the beginning of the weekend’s festivities.
The ‘Spirit of 1743’ - a grand journey
The ‘Spirit of 1743’ was baptized at the Château de Saran in August of 1989, ancestral residence of Moët & Chandon.
Named for the year the House was founded, the balloon’s unforgettable voyage would begin in 1990, during the harvest season in Champagne, as the men and women waved it off from Moët & Chandon’s vineyards.
One of its first major stops was the Eiffel Tower, symbol of the French Capital, which in the early years of the House helped it inscribe itself in the palaces of French royalty.
There, the balloon paid homage to this eternal symbol of French industry by flying low, near the foot of the Eiffel Tower, in the early hours of the morning.
In its next stop was the Tower of Big Ben in London, where for two days, the Spirit of 1743, soared over the Neogothic tower, nodding to Westminster Palace, and catching its own reflection in the pond of the gardens of Saint Thomas Hospital.
Images: Supplied The flight over the Netherlands proved perilous as powerful winds that turned the windmills made famous by Vincent Van Gogh made this part of the journey more challenging, but allowed nevertheless for magnificent images to be captured for posterity.
The voyage continued with Moscow, as the Spirit of 1743 flew over a snowy white Red Square, then with the balloon traversing the island of Mykonos on a starry night, and the sand dunes of the Jordanian desert of the Valley of the Moon.
Well, it is impossible for any trip to be complete without a visit to the Statue of Liberty in New York, symbol of hope and freedom, and a splendid gift of France to the young American nation.
Images: Supplied Flying over the Statue of Liberty, the Spirit of 1743 posed for unforgettable images before being greeted by the chanting and dancing of New Yorkers on the lawn of Sheep’s Meadow in Central Park.
In 2011, when the Spirit of 1743 was allowed to travel to China, it became a metaphor for the pioneering spirit that had lead Moët & Chandon to China in the 19th century, as the balloon made a special trip to the Great Wall of China and then to Shanghai, greeted once more by the land where Moët & Chandon had first arrived in 1843, exactly one century after the House was founded.
Images: Supplied
Images: Supplied
