A reader in Altadena wants the name...

A reader in Altadena wants the name of a company that specializes in ballooning. Nobody does it better than Buddy Bombard, the pioneer of ballooning. This year Bombard is celebrating his 14th season. His guests drift over castles, vineyards, medieval villages and mountain peaks, plus valleys in France, Austria, Italy, Switzerland. Fine dining, deluxe hotels. Sightseeing on the ground as well as by balloon. Dates: May through October. Brochures on request.

Buddy Bombard’s Balloon Adventures, 6727 Curran St., McLean, Va. 22101. Telephone toll-free (800) 862-8537. Note: Bombard operates the world’s largest fleet of balloons.

Language Packages: An opportunity to live with a family in France while learning French is being offered for as little as $785 for two weeks. The family stay includes meals as well as shelter. Beginner, intermediate, advanced courses. Additional weeks: $345. The same U.S. representative is arranging two-week courses in Spanish, with lodging provided by families in Cuernavaca ($1,000). Add-on weeks: $350. Contact Language Study Abroad, 1301 N. Maryland Ave., Glendale 91207, (818) 242-5263.

A longtime favorite among students of Spanish is the Center for Bilingual Studies (also in Cuernavaca). Cost per week for accommodations, meals, transportation to and from classrooms: $350 plus a registration fee of $165 (covers textbooks, round-trip transportation between Mexico City and Cuernavaca). Write to the Center for Bilingual Studies, 3133 Lake Hollywood Drive, Los Angeles 90078. Call (213) 851-3403 or toll-free (800) 426-4660.

Another Spanish language program will be offered during July/August in Puebla, Mexico. A two-week session: $395 (covers tuition, room, meals). Contact Danette Pawlowski, Language Experience Programs, 1621 Orchard Hill Lane, Hacienda Heights, Calif. 91745, or dial (800) 726-6644.

Finally, a 28-day language study course in Spain is being arranged through the Pontifical University of Salamanca for $2,150. Includes accommodations at the university or with a Spanish family, meals, instruction, tuition, tours to Madrid, Toledo, Segovia, Avila and the hill towns of Castile, plus air fare from Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco. Contact Jack Tobin, P.O. Box 520, Fairfax, Calif. 94930, toll-free (800) 359-4680.

Banana Boats: Banana boats are back in the passenger-carrying business, providing 19-day voyages between Los Angeles and South America. Eight passengers per ship. Air-conditioned cabins with twin beds, sofas, refrigerators. Public areas feature a lounge/bar, swimming pool, dining room, recreation room. Rates from $2,090 per passenger. Mary Le Blanc of Freighter World Cruises describes the service as “great news for travelers looking for short freighter voyages out of Los Angeles.”

Contact Le Blanc c/o Freighter World Cruises, 180 S. Lake Ave., Suite 335, Pasadena 91101.

New Zealand on a Budget: Here’s another one of those fly/drive bargain packages for New Zealand-bound vacationers. Prices for the round-trip flight from LAX with a motor home for a week start at $762 per person. Unlimited mileage, airport transfers, use of campsites. Additional days begin at $12. Motor homes feature baths, kitchenettes, a hot water system. Other choices: cab-over campers, camper vans, mini-vans, cars/station wagons.

Your travel agent or the New Zealand Central Reservations Office, 6033 W. Century Blvd., Los Angeles 90045. Call toll-free (800) 351-2317 (California) or (800) 351-2323 (nationwide).

At Home in Italy: Suzanne Pidduck deals in apartment/villa/farmhouse rentals in Italy. Represents 1,500 properties (primarily in Tuscany and Umbria). Others near Rome, Lake Garda, Sicily. Pidduck offers to share notes she’s made on Italy: driving, trains, airport arrivals, hotels, restaurants, shopping, guidebooks, sightseeing. The rental business is booming, she says. “My bookings are already double the number over 1989.”

Contact Pidduck c/o Cuendet, 1742 Calle Corva, Camarillo, Calif. 93010. Call toll-free (800) 726-6702.

Giveaway: “Britain’s Treasured Landscapes” is the title of a free 48-page booklet describing nearly a dozen national parks in England/Wales and 40 destinations in Scotland. Tips on walking, riding trails, rock climbing, canoeing, fishing, sailing. Other notes on the Lake District, Dartmoor (Britain’s renowned national park), the Pembrokeshire Coast of southwest Wales, the Highlands/islands of Scotland. Other details on accommodations.

Copies from the British Tourist Authority, 350 S. Figueroa St., Suite 450, Los Angeles 90071, (213) 628-3525.

Pet Hotels/Motels: Hundreds of independently owned hotels/motels and nearly a dozen hotel chains that welcome pets are named in the 1990-91 edition of “Touring With Towser.” A new feature this year is a section listing B&Bs; that accept animals. The 60-page directory also offers tips on making travel comfortable for pets (car care, camping, diet).

Send check or money order ($1.50) to Quaker Professional Services, “Touring With Towser,” 585 Hawthorne Court, Galesburg, Ill. 61401.

Greek Islands: A new brochure tells how you can “cruise the Greek islands like a member of the Onassis family for $156 per day.” Seven-day voyages to Mykonos, Santorini, the Cyclades. Other cruises from Athens to Istanbul and to the biblical sites of Greece and the monuments of Asia Minor. Vessels include a 180-foot motor yacht, a 300-foot motor cruiser and a seven-cabin Turkish motor sailer. Details from Tourism Marketing Specialists, 5757 W. Century Blvd., Suite 390, Los Angeles 90045. Telephone toll-free (800) 341-3030.

Adventure Vacations: To keep abreast of inquiries on British Columbia (one of Canada’s hottest destinations), the B.C. Ministry of Tourism is responding with a series of new guides/booklets. The latest is titled “Outdoor & Adventure Vacations.” Information on resorts, guest ranches, parks, canoeing/kayaking, raft trips, sailing, trekking/mountaineering, fishing, riding. The booklet contains the names of houseboat renters, tour companies, wilderness lodges.

For a free copy of the 78-page guide, call Tourism British Columbia at (714) 852-1054 or toll-free (800) 663-6000.

A Letter From Britain: Pauline Cherry of East Sussex writes: “Tell your readers I would be happy to take them on a Bloomsbury Tour of Rodmell Village where Virginia and Leonard Woolf lived. (I can actually introduce them to people who knew the Woolfs.) Americans I have coaxed away from London have been delighted at the pleasures of Sussex, and love to be introduced to the locals and be invited into their homes. Another comment is how cheap accommodations are.”

Write to Pauline Cherry, Sunnyside Cottages, Rodmell, Near Lewes, East Sussex, England BN7 3HA.

Reader Recommendations:

Scotland--Phil and Alison Mixter, Santa Monica: “Praise for the Lodge Hotel, 6 Hampton Terrace, West Coates, Edinburgh EH12 5JD. Tariff: about $35 for a twin room with bath.”

Spain--Mr. and Mrs. Mac Giegor, Malibu: “Heartily recommend Los Azores Hotel, Fuencaliente, Real Province CTRA N-410-KM103. Approximately $33 double.”

Greece--Noel Vazquez, Yorba Linda: “Enjoyed a wonderful vacation at the Hotel Aegean, 84600 Tagu, Mykonos, Greece. Rooms were very clean and comfortable. Mid-season rates, $40; high season, $60.”

Africa--Dottie Hashizumi, Rancho Palos Verdes: “Spent 11 days on a custom safari in Kenya for two. Cost: $3,140. Included hot-air ballooning over the Masai Mara. Selected the safari company from 93 brochures. I’m going to take my 70-year-old mom in July. That’s how much I think of David Anderson’s Luxury Adventure Safaris, 30 W. Mission St., Suite 4, Santa Barbara 93101.”

We regret that only a select few recommendations can be used. They must be brief (typewritten or printed). Only one recommendation per reader, please. Note: Recommendations will not be used unless prices and addresses are included.