The Machines de l'Île: the incredible story of La Machine and the Great Elephant

With a name like that for my little guided tour business, I could hardly avoid writing an article about my illustrious namesake. In just a few years, the Great Elephant has become the symbol of Nantes, the standard-bearer of a whole city. But behind this pachyderm of wood and steel lies a story that blends street theatre, industrial wasteland and the (sometimes thwarted) dreams of giants.

It all began with the collaboration between François Delarozière and Jean-Luc Courcoult, artistic director of the Royal de Luxe company. From 1991 to 2008, together they designed a whole series of giant creatures that toured European cities. Among the most iconic pieces: the Giant, the Little Giant, the Giraffes, the Little Girl Giant and the Great Elephant (yes, already!).

In 1999, François founded his own street theatre company, La Machine. His obsession: creating living machines that move and carry the audience along.

In 2005, a giant elephant designed by Delarozière paraded through the streets of Nantes. This was "The Sultan's Elephant" (La visite du Sultan des Indes sur son éléphant à voyager dans le temps), a Royal de Luxe show commissioned by Nantes and Amiens for the centenary of Jules Verne's death. It was a huge success, and the idea of a permanent elephant began to take shape.

To understand the Machines de l'Île, you need to go back to the history of the site. The western part of the Île de Nantes was home to the Dubigeon shipyards, which closed in 1987: a trauma for this working-class city. The former industrial halls of these shipyards, the Nefs, are now home to the bestiary.

The Machines de l'Île project was co-signed by François Delarozière and Pierre Orefice, who went on to run it. It developed in stages: the Great Elephant and the Galerie des Machines in 2007, then the Carrousel des Mondes Marins in 2012. Two deeply Nantes worlds meet here: the inventions of Jules Verne, born in Nantes, and the world of mechanics and steam of the former shipyards.

Here, the creative process is on show to the public. Visitors can watch the builders at work from the workshops, see the sketches and witness the birth of the creatures in the Galerie des Machines.

Made of steel and tulipwood, 12 metres tall and 8 metres wide, the Elephant is an articulated machine that can trumpet and swing its trunk, and it carries 49 passengers on a short ride along the Loire. It is 21 metres long and weighs around 48 tonnes.

It also sprays passers-by who get a little too close, and I admit I always watch for the reaction of visitors who don't see it coming: that is the whole spirit of the Machines, somewhere between poetry and mischief. On the green side, it now runs on a hybrid engine.

The Galerie des Machines is both an exhibition space and the laboratory of the La Machine company. Machinists present a fantastic bestiary there (spider, heron, giant ant) and bring the creatures to life in front of the audience.

Opened in July 2012, the Carrousel des Mondes Marins (the Marine Worlds Carousel) is a structure 25 metres high and 22 metres in diameter, made up of 35 moving parts spread over three levels: the seabed, the abyss and the surface of the sea. It is the fifth carousel built by La Machine, reviving the tradition of late 19th-century carousels, designed as machines for travelling rather than for thrills. It draws heavily on "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas", the novel by Nantes' own Jules Verne.

It won a Thea Award in 2013, the theme-park equivalent of the Oscars, in the most original attraction category.

It was the next big project, and I have lost count of the visitors who ask me where it stands. Imagined as early as 2002, the Heron Tree (l'Arbre aux Hérons) was to be a steel tree 50 metres in diameter, rising to 35 metres, with 22 branches totalling a kilometre in length. It was to take root in a public garden partly open since 2019, and herons at the top were to take passengers on a circular flight 42 metres above the ground.

That garden is the Jardin extraordinaire, in the former Misery quarry in Bas-Chantenay, an impressive landscaped park full of exotic plants and even complete with a waterfall.

But the dream ran into budget reality. The cost, first estimated at 35 million euros, had been revised far upwards; La Machine disputed the city's estimates. On 15 September 2022, Johanna Rolland, mayor of Nantes and president of the metropolitan authority, announced that the project was being dropped. The Chamber of Commerce and Industry then tried to find an alternative through private funding, without success. The end was confirmed in September 2023, because of legal risks and the difficulty of making pedestrian flows safe along the Loire.

The heron, however, has not had its last word. Two weeks before retiring, Pierre Orefice, then director of the Machines de l'Île, declared that the heron must live on regardless. For her part, the mayor wanted thought to be given to running it on the Nefs esplanade from the 2024-2025 season. Sadly, that never happened. Today, given its advanced state of deterioration after several years without maintenance in the rain, I am beginning to lose hope of ever seeing it take flight again.

Meanwhile, La Machine has spread all over the world: the Spider created for Liverpool, European Capital of Culture in 2008, the horse-dragon Long Ma presented in Beijing in 2014, the Halle de La Machine in Toulouse, where some 200 show machines are exhibited and set in motion, then the Compagnie du Dragon in Calais in 2019.

Since November 2025, a Monitor Lizard 14.8 metres long and weighing 22 tonnes has even joined the Dragon on the Opal Coast, and the Hellfest festival in Clisson is now home all year round to the "Guardian of Darkness" (la Gardienne des Ténèbres), a gigantic scorpion-woman that can breathe fire. Together with Toulouse, Nantes is still today the cradle and showcase of the company.

From the shipyards to the travelling elephant, the Machines de l'Île alone tell the story of how Nantes transformed itself: a city that turned its industrial past into a playground for the imagination. And if you would like to learn more about the Île de Nantes and its history, I would be delighted to show it to you on one of my À pas d'éléphant walks!

An important note before we start: I am an independent guide and I am not part of the La Machine company or the Machines de l'Île team. I am sharing this information purely for guidance, as I found it on the official website in September 2026. Opening times, prices and conditions can change at any time: for accurate, up-to-date information, check directly with the Machines de l'Île, at lesmachines-nantes.fr or on 0 810 12 12 25 (from abroad: +33 2 51 17 49 89).

Where? Parc des Chantiers, boulevard Léon-Bureau, 44200 Nantes, on the Île de Nantes. By tram, the nearest stop is Chantiers Navals (line 1), then cross the Anne-de-Bretagne bridge.

Please note: the area is undergoing works in 2026 (quai de la Fosse, Anne-de-Bretagne bridge), which may change access routes and sometimes opening times at the last minute.

When? Opening times vary by day and season, with last admission 45 minutes before closing. Key dates for the end of 2026:
• Carrousel des Mondes Marins closed for maintenance from 21 to 25 September 2026.
• Great Elephant rides from 1 September to 16 October: departures from 10.15am to 3.45pm Tuesday to Friday, from 10.15am to 6pm at weekends.
• Great Elephant rides from 17 October to 1 November (All Saints' school holidays): departures every day from 10.15am to 6.45pm.
• No Great Elephant rides from 2 November 2026 to 28 February 2027, for maintenance.

The visitor areas are neither heated nor air-conditioned. In very hot weather or bad weather, the Galerie and the Carrousel may close, and the elephant rides are then cancelled, with the decision taken at the last minute.

My tips as a guide:
• Book your elephant ride online in advance: some departures are only available by booking. If there are no places left online, tickets are still sold on site on the day, subject to availability.
• At the Carrousel, check the mode of the day: guided visit (discovery mode) on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays during school term, and carousel rides (fairground mode) on Wednesdays, at weekends and during the holidays.
• Even without a ticket, the esplanade is free: you can watch the elephant go by (and get sprayed) without paying a thing.

Sources consulted: opening times and prices on the official Machines de l'Île website, September 2026.