Giant Jules Verne diver takes to the streets of Nantes, courtesy of the Sultan's Elephant people

RJ sez, "Known for their supersized productions, the French mechanical marionette street theatre company Royale de Luxe [ed: see The Sultan's Elephant] have been up to their tricks again this weekend, this time on their home territory of the city of Nantes in western France. A giant deep-sea diver desperately searches for his niece, a search which has encompassed a hundred years, the sinking of the Titanic and a mysterious mailbox. Quite an extraordinary sight by anyone's standards."


Nantes, the home town of Jules Verne, is situated in western France. Here, near the river Loire a giant deep-sea diver sleeps gently, waiting for his task to begin. Sadness marks his face even as he sleeps. He has been searching the world over for his missing niece and although he may not know it, the end of his search is coming. The diver or scaphandrier as he is known in French will be paraded through the streets of this historic city at the beginning of the Estuary 2009 arts festival. The biannual festival gives the French mechanical marionette street theater company Royale de Luxe the opportunity to unveil their latest creation.

A Giant Awakes in Nantes

(Image: (c) Stéphane Lerouge – Nantes)

(Thanks, RJ!)