Les Machines de L'ile (The Machines of the Island), Nantes (must see)

The Machines of the Island is a unique exhibition and entertainment space. Opened in 2007, it was the brainchild of artist François Delarozière and producer Pierre Orefice, supported by the local government as part of the urban renewal of Nantes’ former shipyard district. Drawing from the imagined worlds of Jules Verne, the mechanical genius of Leonardo da Vinci, and the city’s industrial past, this whimsical attraction blends art, engineering, and storytelling into a living, moving world of mechanical creatures.

At the heart of the experience is the Great Elephant, a massive 12-meter-high, 48-ton mechanical elephant that walks and carries up to 50 passengers through the park. Other key attractions include The Sea Worlds Carousel, an immense ride featuring fantastical underwater creatures, and The Heron Tree project, which is envisioned as a towering steel tree with mechanical birds and animals populating its canopy. Visitors can also explore the Gallery of Machines, where they encounter a growing mechanical bestiary including a chameleon, a giant spider, ants, sloths, and various birds, all brought to life with the help of machinists who guide and animate the creations.

One of the latest additions is The Swarm of Butterflies, inspired by the migratory monarch butterflies of Mexico. Installed on a lush aquatic tank with reeds and papyrus, these butterflies lift and flutter in coordinated mechanical choreography. Visitors can activate this display by pedaling special velocipedes that awaken the swarm, merging art and human-powered interaction in a vibrant dance of motion and imagination.

Throughout the visit, guests are not mere spectators but participants in an evolving mechanical universe. The machinists play a key role, explaining the origin, design, and functioning of each creature-sometimes even inviting visitors to control them.