Duck, Fancy a Voyage in Montgolfière?
The 1783 Tale of 3 Animal Aeronauts
September 19, 1783.
Up in the wide blue yonder…
This event took place in the forecourt of the Château de Versailles, France.
The event started on the ground — but much to the amazement of the curious crowd gathered around the forecourt — it soon took up in the air.
People lifted their noses as the Montgolfière lifted in the air, carrying 3 brave aeronauts.
🐓 Un coq.
🦆 Un canard.
🐑 Un mouton.
This trio of rooster, duck, and sheep were up for thrills and boarded the round basket of a majestic Montgolfière.
Not of their own free will, but a free ride is a free ride.
🐑 ‘I feel lighter,’ bleeted the sheep.
🐓 ‘I believe I can fly!’ crowed the rooster.
🦆 ‘Tell it like it is, you flightless cock,’ quacked the duck. ‘It’s the wicker basket that’s carrying us and the hot-air balloon’s flying us.’
Up in the wide blue yonder… Caressed by silence…
🐓 ‘We’re soaring in the sky…’ the rooster sang.
🦆 ‘We’re floating in the blue yonder…’ the duck chimed in.
🐑 ‘We’re floating in the air carefree…’ the sheep spouted.
🐓 ‘We could be heroes… of the ether!’ the cockerel proclaimed.
‘Chouette, ce voyage en Montgolfière!’
The three animals agreed — this Montgolfière journey was cool.
The 🐓+🦆+🐑 were hailed as ‘heroes of the air’ — like the cockerel had predicted.
King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette rewarded them with a place in the Menagerie in Versailles.
Quite an upgrade in status!
One day you’re quacking and paddling about with ordinary ducks in an ordinary pond, and the next, you mingle in the Menagerie of the royal grounds of Versailles.
🦆‘I am the first duck in the world to sail in Montgolfière!’
Life has its ups and downs, but when it lifts you up, duck, what a view! — Angélica Chighine
Nobody knows what those three animals said when they were up in the air. Nobody thought of interviewing them when they landed. A physician checked them. To his amazement, they were all alive. That was it.
So, there’s no first-animal account of that first voyage in Montgolfière.
🐿 But I know of a 🇬🇧 squirrel — known as ‘the Bloomsbury Squirrel’ — who’s sailed in Montgolfière some time ago. He’s written a song about his adventures, and I’ll share it with you in another story.