We visited a very interesting place. The famous author Jules Verne is probably the most well-known individual born here. So what was more appropriate than to celebrate him in style on a very interesting localtion, right in the heart of the city - Le ôle de Nantes - where the once so lively shipyard had several thousand 'chantiers' building all kinds of large vessels. The yard today is a fascinating mix of old buildings, art, like the spectacular series of circles along the river on the western side of the island. The island is within the Loire River, that flows through the city and naturally was a superb location for ship-building. Just opposite the yard, on the S shores are the houses where the 'Cape Horn'-skippers used to live and on the opposite shore, north of the ôle(island) are the buildings that once contained the offices of the companys involved in trading overseas, also including the not so glorious slave-trade.

Anyway, when all the workers of the huge ship-yard got laid-off and the ship-building became history here (there is still a big yard in S:t Nazaire also along the river) some of them used their skills to build a giant - think a Huge Marionette doll) that became famous and now is touring the major cities of the world.

Their experience from that encouraged them to go on, and someone came up with the brillinat idea of constructing a series of 'machines' in hommage to Jules Verne and all his creative innovations.

First, they built an elephant - 'The Sultan's Elephant'- that's 12 meters high and weighs 42 tonnes! It consists of a steel skeleton with beautifully crafted wood sections forming the body. It's powered by a Cummins diesel engine and the very natural, albeit slow, movements are hydraulically powered. (see pictures in the Photo Gallery side link)

The elphant takes passengers for a stroll around the area and was a tremendous success that has become a trademark of Nantes by now even if it's just 3 years old. The Elephant has been followed of aa series of other machines and there are more to come. The workshop seemed very busy.

Children and adults alike enjoy themselves in this lovely place.