#GEMAB21 Ambassadors – Judy Holt – USA 🇺🇸
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I am a hot air balloon pilot since 1981. It will be 40 years in 2021! As of today, I have 1456 hours logged flying. My greatest success was in 1995, when I won the Arizona State Championship.
I know Grand Est Mondial Air Ballons from the beginning, I was there in 1989 & have attended most of the years since then. I come every two years because I love France! The Grand Est region is such a contrast to the Arizona desert where I live. Flying over friendly villages , fields of rolled bales, forests, & once in a while a sunflower field. Lorraine is a wonderful place to fly!
I love the camaraderie of the pilots and crews from all over the world who come to Chambley sharing their passion for flight.
Flying during this event is like being in the center of a giant kaleidoscope of color! Everybody needs to experience the magic of seeing hundreds of balloons in the sky!
Here’s a sweet story : I met my good friend Hubert (from the Netherlands) at the very 1st event here in 1989 & we have been together ever since! We celebrated our 30 year anniversary at last year’s Grand Est Mondale Air Ballons! We usually travel back & forth between the USA and Europe several times each year but are separated now due to the international border closures…
Hubert and I have explored all over the Grand Est Lorraine in the many years attending the festival. We enjoy going to Metz, Nancy, or Pont-Ă -Mousson to experience all their history & to enjoy a great meal. We just love the gorgeous countryside of this region – visiting the war memorials, Roman ruins, lac de Madine, village boulangeries, etc.
It is my sincere hope that the world gets better control of the virus so that European borders can reopen to Americans before summer 2021. I really want to return to GEMAB with my balloon Desert Drifter.