There were a lot of people on the esplanade des Riveurs, known as the “esplanade des machines” this Saturday at 4 p.m. Between 5 and 10,000 people gathered in Nantes to watch the flight of the great blue heron from the La Machine company.
A free show, open to the public but which also reminds us that the heron tree project should not see the light of day, at least in Nantes, following the decision of Mayor Johanna Rolland, due to the project cost estimated between 52 and 80 million euros
. This weekend was a bit of a big meeting for those who are attached to the Machines de l’île and what they represent here in Nantes.
Wings of steel that unfold and a gigantic bird that seems to take flight… Odile wanted to attend this moment with her friends: “We pass by it every day and it’s static, she explains. But today he was flying and there were people in the nacelles, so it was an opportunity!”
The Machines of the Island: the identity of Nantes
The opportunity to see this heron in motion, and for the first time! Heron who represents the identity of Nantesand Blandine is very attached to it. “Wherever you go in France, and even in Europe, if we tell you Nantes, we immediately think of the Machines de l’île! Tourism comes first for the Machines”
A work of art that is part of the colossal construction site d’Arbre aux hérons abandoned by the municipality
and which saddens Chantal a lot. “We are given the excuse overnight that it costs too much, I don’t find that logical” she is indignant.
The heron tree, started 10 years ago, costs between 52 and 80 million euros. Conceived by François Delarozière and Pierre Orefice, the company La Machine is already considering new private financing.