PARIS (Reuters) - The biggest and most expensive cruise ship ever -- Queen Mary II -- has set out to sea, just days after a deal between France and the European Union saved its makers from immediate bankruptcy.

Thousands watched as the giant 500 million pound cruise liner, which stretches the length of four football fields, left Saint Nazaire in western France on Thursday for a three-day test run.

Six tugboats pulled the Queen Mary II to sea, with the ship standing as high as a 23-storey building.

I need a ticket to France, a drill, about six hours and the cover of darkness.