Loire Valley Balloon Flight over Chambord, Chenonceau or Cheverny

About an hour in the air over the Loire, at sunrise or sunset, with a château underneath: Chambord, Chenonceau, Cheverny, Blois or Chaumont-sur-Loire, depending on where the flight launches and where the wind carries it. The valley is on the UNESCO World Heritage list, and the reason is density rather than any single building. France has châteaux everywhere; this stretch of river has them one after another, which is why it has been called the garden of France for centuries. What a balloon adds is quiet. There is no engine, so between burns you get the sandy shores of the river, the vines past them, and whatever is waking up in the fields, without any noise of your own to cover it.