Krug

When Krug, the world's most prestgious champagne house, created the world's most luxurious hot air balloon - complete with a white lambsskin-lined basket - to entertain their guests in unprecedented style, their choice of pilot was of utmost importance. Yup - you guessed it. Mr Monk.

The balloon itself was constructed by the top balloon manufacturer, Camerons. The basket was exquisitely and painstakingly crafted by bespoke Parisian upholsterers and included dining tables and individual stainless steel tiffin boxes which housed Michelin star food for consumption during the flight. This was all washed down with the finest KRUG champagne, served in style by the on-board sommelier.

Chris was commissioned by Krug to take this balloon to some of the world's most exclusive locations including the awe-inspiring Everglades in Florida and along the breathtaking Tuscan coastlines in Italy.

As well as free flying, the basket was used as the centre piece for Art Basel week in The Setai, Miami's premier 5 star hotel on South Beach. It also formed a stunning focal point at the cutting edge Virtu Art Gallery in Hollywood. Displaying the basket in these not-so-accessable locations created a different type of challenge for Chris and the team, but as you can see from these photos, Chris's team overcame these challenges with trendous affect.