France 127 - Nantes/Goldie next door/ The Elephant - the ile de machines -Oh to be an engineer

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Nous arrivee . Camping Nantes 5* Luxury. We are in the Pays de la Loire in Nantes according to Wiki. In our heads Nantes is still in Brittany , always was and always will be. Camping Nantes is open all year round and we received a very warm welcome both by reception and by the sunshine that rained upon us. The site is well spread out in a green oasis in the city. Trees everywhere providing much needed shade in the summer. Do you have a satellite dish for T.V I was asked . No that is something we thought to do without in Gabby and up to now have no missed it . However in a cold British summer we might think otherwise. On the site are large camping plots, chalets and cottages, cabana du voyages, tents and lodges. 20 euros good value for such a good site with excellent facilities and so close to the tram line into Nantes. They run every few minutes, the journey takes less than 10 minutes and the ticket good for an hour costs as little as 1 euro 60. In the height of summer it would be heaving but today it was relatively quiet. I took the opportunity to do the washing and get it dried. A chore that never goes away when you are on holiday. Bread and croissants were delivered to our door at 8.30 on the dot.

Our neighbour Mr and Mrs Perth had a panel van an AutoSleeper in the same colour as Gabby. They looked in colour like identical twins. He had named his Goldy 2 but shortened to Goldy. They had travelled down to the south coast over three days. It is a long way down from Scotland. They travel every year and end up on a campsite at Normoutier where they have stayed year in year out for the past 40 years. They meet up with other campers however as they all get older their numbers decrease. He has suffered a stroke and she was suffering from cancer but managed to run every morning. A nicer couple we could not have wished to meet. He told us he was 80 and they travelled for 10 weeks to make the trip worth while.

We have slowed down. We get the chairs out and just sit relaxing in the sun. Time does not seem to matter. It is pleasant just sitting here listening to the river running by and the folk walking and running into town. " The person attempting to travel two roads will get nowhere" What a clever man Xun Kuang was. That was us trying to balance life with work, holidays with life in general. There is something good about lazing. Perhaps age has caught us up.

Ok it is elephant time. Bear with me - something different. Let the brochure do the talking. Les Machines de L'ile is a totally unprecedented project. It is the work and brainchild of Francois Delaroziere and Pierre Orefice. It is the only place where Jules Verne meets Leonardo da Vinci and Nantes industrial history. All in the long closed shipyards and their warehouses. In an area that could quite easily have fallen into decay but was now a hive of activity with its workshops that are part of Nantes renewal. Think urban renewal in Britain and you think bit of a square, a few shops and little else. Here they went big and imagination run riot. A public park - the Parc de Chaniers and the machines came to life in 2007 with the inauguration of the Grand Elephant and the Galarie des Machines. The Carousel des Monds Marins opened in 2012 and the new adventure the Arbre aux Herons will be opened in 2022. The whole area brings in much needed revenue.

We tried last year to come and booked a ticket but for some reason we didn't make it so this year we tried again. It cost 8 euros 50 to ride the elephant and the plan had been to go on it before heading south. We said our goodbyes to our Scottish neighbours and headed for the tram into town. We had already sussed out where it was last night , we found the gare and paid for our tickets. So this morning it was just climb on the tram and head for Commerce. Here we had two choices - catch Line 1 to the Elephant or walk along the river crossing the footbridge. When we arrived everywhere was shut. However in a hanger was the grand elephant. Wow he is big. He is spectacular and we are going for a ride on him. We had been told to report to the booking office 30 minutes before our ride at 10.15. So before that we headed for a much needed coffee. By the time we had finis hed the coffees there was a queue at the booking desk. We along with a number of other visitors were directed to another door especially reserved for people who had bought e- tickets. The remaining queue were directed to another door where they could buy any tickets that were available for the 10 o'clock ride or for one later in the day. There are only 50 places so they go very quickly.

On the dot of 10 we were sent up to the first floor where we queued again waiting for our guide to arrive and let us on the beast . We were allowed to climb inside the beast through its workings and smell of hydraulic oil. The driver below us started his safety routine. Testing first each foot of elephant with the grace of a ballet dancer. He moved his flexible trunk and squirted water out of it. He wagged the elephants tail and tested its roar. Finally he flapped the elephants huge leather ears. Finally after all the safety testing we went through safety - don't lean over edge, there are no toilets, don't take photos of his insides.

Then he started to walk. Very slowly but off he went guided out by a guide in the fashion of someone directing an airplane out on the runway, Another guide walked at his side ensuring he didn't walk into anything or anyone. Crowds gathered round him click click clicking their cameras. He was an impressive sight. Once on board you could see his moving parts - the gears that moved his legs. The blurb said that once he walks he is like architecture in motion. He travels at between 1 and 3 km per hour and we were off up the car park to the carousel. We were on top of the equivalent of a four storey building. High above the crowds. They waved at us. We waved at them. As he walked he let off a roar now and again and being a naughty elephant he squirted everyone in sight. Sion was excited as he wanted to tell his friend Woolly Mammoth he was having a ride on one of his relatives.

The elephant is 40 high and is 8 metres wide. He is made up of 4.84 metric tons of steel, tulip wood, bass wood and poplar. He is lubricated with 2500 litres of hydraulic oil. His eyes blinked under eyelashes the size of brush bristles. He has 62 cylinders of which 46 are hydraulic , 6 pneumatic and 10 gas powered. I thought any child seeing him for the first time would marvel at his lifelike features and his flapping ears. They would want to study hydraulics and make an elephant . None of those mamby pamby courses we seem to love at our universities .

What a day! What a ride! Was it worth it? It was one of the most exciting and interesting things we have seen or done. We will not forget the Grand Elephant of Nantes.

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