Bigger than an African elephant

Thursday 10th May

We headed to Nantes for the day with a few things lined up to see. First stop was Les Machines de L'ile. This was an 'art' project on an island in the Loire river which was a reclaimed shipbuilding site. Here they have built what could be called an amusement park and where they build and show fantastic mechanical animals, some of which move (a la Mad Max). The star attraction is the elephant which is 12m high and 8m wide. Of course we went for a ride along with all the kids. From the inside of the elephant you can see the hydraulics and mechanics of the legs and trunk. Great fun for the kids standing around as the trunk sprayed water at them. It was a cold day and some of the kids were thoroughly soaked.

View of Nantes cathedral from atop the elephant.

We rode up top under the 'umbrella',
and you can see the elephant spraying water at the bystanders.
The elephant sometimes squirted the water up at
the kids standing just under the ear.

Robert - a chou-chou for you.

Another area had a huge mechanical spider and other insects. They are in the process of building a giant tree that will have herons and other birds and insects. It was a great exhibition and something truly unique.

The spider - lifted by an overhead gantry
and the staff on board operated the legs.

We decided that the do not mount the insects applied to Odette too,
so she just sat on the step.

Nantes has a large interest in art so we headed out along the canal in search of other art exhibits. First was this boat - preparing to leap into the canal.

Titled Misconceivable.

The next exhibit was a chateau where you sat on the seat and enjoyed the castle view and a water fountain was supposed to erupt when you sat down, and stop when you stood up. Sadly, not working, but we enjoyed the castle view.

Love the reflection of the chateau,
surprising as the lake was really scummy.

The final exhibit of animal sculptures in the trees was also not accessible so that was the end of our day. Well, not quite. On the way home we got stopped by the gendarmes - didn't think we were speeding but your heart does go thump. Papers and licenses and a little conversation about how long we were going to be in France. Bonne vacance, and a wave and we were on our way home.