24 hours aboard the Venice Simplon Orient Express

 

My little cats! 

Today I'm taking you with me on an extraordinary adventure in every sense of the word. Yesterday, I told you about the sublime Venice, and to get back to Paris, I had the indescribable good fortune to travel on board the Venice Simplon Orient Express, the fabulous blue train. So many superlatives around here these days! To tell you all about this trip, here's a report in 24 images, with anecdotes from the train's staff, who welcomed me with extraordinary kindness and benevolence.

 

 

Venice, 9 a.m., meet me on the platform for boarding, a true experience halfway between a trip on the Titanic and Harry Potter's train to Hogwarts. I'm as excited as a flea, having read and seen so much about this famous train. You'll find the different books at the end of this article.

We arrive in front of our carriage and there's a veritable guard of honor to welcome the passengers. Chief steward, train manager, bartender and maître d'. When I see this photo again, I have the feeling I can read the pride and love these people have for this legend, because having interviewed them, I can tell you that working on board is truly a passionate profession.

 

I'm so excited, it's like a little girl's dream come true... I remember my grandfather and his Agatha Christie novels. Getting on this train is a real trip back in time. I learned that the train is in service 9 months of the year, and every year, for 3 months, French workshops and craftsmen are busy renovating it. There are two original cars that will soon be over 100 years old... The crazy thing is that owner James B. Sherwood, year after year, has never stopped trying to preserve this little miracle, seeking out craftsmen who perpetuate ancestral techniques to renovate and perfect his traveling hotel jewelry. 

 

In fact, after the Second World War, the famous "compagnie internationale des wagons lit" began to die out, and with the advent of aeronautics, travellers gradually abandoned trains. Some carriages were sold at auction, others were found in junkyards (my heart sinks...). When Mr. Sherwood buys back a batch of 1977 wagons, he decides at the same time to go in search of the cars scattered all over Europe. 

 

 

I enter our cabin, breathless and wide-eyed. My god, it's beautiful, the marquetry, the locks, the handles, the coasters.... EVERYTHING! I open a small cupboard, but no, it's not a cupboard but literally our shower room. Sigh of happiness. I tear my hair out to take a decent photo, I climb, I change lenses twelve times, I hope my photos will do justice to this place. Davide, our steward, comes into our cabin to welcome us. He tells us that this is his 3rd season on board VSOE, and that even though the days are long, he loves his job.

 

 

He tells us that there's one Steward per car, and each car is coal-fired, so it's a really physical job looking after each car. Between maintaining the boilers, which have to be fuelled, transforming the cabins into bedrooms, making the beds (impeccably squared away), washing the dishes for all the passengers - don't dream, there's no dishwasher. And he mischievously tells us to prepare ourselves psychologically, as we'll be eating and eating and eating for the next 24 hours... 

 

 

There are two services for lunch and dinner, so we decide to wait for the second and explore the train. Our first stop is in the bar car, where a pianist, Pierino Rossi, is playing all day. I decide to interview him between songs, asking him to tell me an anecdote. He tells me that in 18 years of service on board, he's only used to playing when the train is moving, and that one day, when the journey was particularly hectic, the train suddenly stopped for long minutes and he was unable to play without making false notes, so used is he to anticipating the train's movements. A love story, I tell you.

 

 

Before we can go to lunch, an announcement is made in the train, reminding us that the dress code is "casual chic", and that you're never "overdressed" on the Venice Simplon Orient Express. The staff are unfailingly friendly, and willingly indulge my little indiscretions. Some of them are really very professional, and don't want to tell me any stories about the train at all, for the sake of customer discretion. I appreciate this professionalism, and others are really less scrupulous, as long as I accept that they won't give me any names! I'm a sponge, and I don't want to miss a thing. I've been on the train for 6 hours already, and as much as I feel like I'm in another era, I feel like time is passing as if I were trying to fill a washcloth with water... Sorry for the image, but I can't think of a better way to describe this frustrating feeling. 

 

 

It's the last straw for a trip that's all about taking it slow, that time goes by so quickly on board! To get back to Paris, we'll be passing through 4 countries: Italy, Austria, Switzerland and France. I think it's so beautiful to take the time to take it all in.

 

 

In each carriage there's a little plaque telling the story of the car, where it was found, its journey, a real identity card. I find myself thinking that this train has a real soul, when I talk to each of the people who work on board. There's a sparkle in their eyes, like sailors in love with the sea. Micaele, the train manager, talks passionately about all his journeys, and I ask him what his favorite was? I saw him recall with emotion an anniversary trip to mark the 25th anniversary of the train's return to service, with the best customers of the Belmond Group, an event because the VSOE crossed 12 countries, a 12-day cruise that ended in Istanbul. He tells me about the pride he felt every time he entered the station, as hundreds of people came to see the train, as in the train's heyday.

 

 

For lunch, I don't need to tell you how divine it was. A dream for the taste buds. Chef Christain Bodiguel, with 30 seasons under his belt, is in charge of the kitchen. I've kept every menu, carte, under glass like relics, or trophies to remind me that I did it! For lunch, it was a festival, with chestnut velouté and a small foie gras lasagne sautéed with chanterelles... Cod with a piquillo emulsion, a fan of snow peas, and mashed potatoes with walnut oil. And dessert... I dream of one day eating a pear poached in Beaumes de Venise with green lentil mousse and a little coconut crème brûlée. Amen to that.

 

 

Chef Christain Bodiguel is certainly the most in love with this train. He's been officiating in the 12-square-meter kitchens for over 30 seasons, that's 6 months a year aboard the train. So, if my calculations are correct, this man has lived on a train for 15 years... I find it terribly romantic to have a train as mythical as this one as company accommodation.

 

Christian tells me that the craziest thing he ever did was to prepare a Christmas dinner in the middle of August for an American family of 12! But at the same time, he remembers making a hamburger for one of John Travolta's children. And it was no mean feat to prepare fries without a deep fryer in such a small kitchen (no food is fried on the train, as the constant movement makes it too dangerous).

 

 

I take advantage of the end of lunchtime services to wander around the other dining cars - there are 3 of them, all in a different style. I make no secret of the fact that I look a bit out of place with my indie rocker haircut and tattoos, but I think this amuses the crew, who open up the train's backstage area to me with delight. I get the feeling that the staff are as committed to working on this train as you are to joining a religion. 

 

 

 

After that, I return to our cabin, filled with emotion and food. And I realize that it's tea time and that the snack is already served. A tray filled with teas, mignardises and apple tarts is there. And even if I'm not hungry, as long as there's food, I'll eat it! And I have a hard time resisting pastries, especially when they're so well presented...

 

 

I decide to get some exercise and visit Massimo, the man in charge of the train store. Boutique" is a big word for this little corner that this man runs with great panache. Massimo has been working on the train for 21 seasons, and I can tell you he's an excellent salesman! I had a hard time approaching him, so busy was he with different customers. He was happy to share an anecdote... One customer who was here for the annual cruise to Istanbul was very angry with her husband. And every time she argued, she went shopping at Massimo's to calm down. Then one night, a terrible argument broke out and the traveler asked Massimo to wake her up for an urgent shopping session. And so it was that he opened his store at 2 a.m. to appease a customer - how's that for a sense of service? 

 

 

I return to the kitchen with Christain, who opens the doors of his palace to me, and explains that he left the kitchens of the Warwick Hotel at the age of 28, where he had some thirty people under his command, for the Venice Simplon Orient-Express, with 12 square meters of kitchen space and a team of 6 cooks.

 

 

The cooks show me the practical tricks of the trade if you ever have to cook on a train yourself (or in a camper van, which is more likely to happen to us one day)... In fact, to set the plates on the very smooth grills, they use damp cloths to stabilize the plates! And to boil food, they place chinois in saucepans to prevent the water from overflowing! Christain confesses that we had to adapt and find little tricks to be more efficient. That's what we call Système D.

 

 

Needless to say, the dinner was sumptuous, and to mark the occasion a second announcement sounded on the train, inviting passengers to dress in their finest. Tuxedos and evening gowns for everyone, I pass a Japanese couple in the corridors, wearing silk kimonos and little wooden shoes. Where am I? Fortunately, I'd found what I was looking for on Asos with a crazy dressI'll let you judge for yourself, with its crazy embroidery work. As it was long, I opted for ballet flats underneath, as I rarely wear evening dresses with 15cm heels, camera in hand on a moving train... 

 

 

The train took a long break in Innsbruck, Austria, and what could be more magical than that? Snow, of course... I really feel like I'm in a daydream. Wolfgang, the Head Steward, follows us with an umbrella, but I tell him there's no need! He doesn't want to talk about the customers, but he tells us that during the 3 months when he's not on board, he has a house in Nepal, and that he's met a Nepalese who's a steward on board the Bucharest Express, and that they meet every 15 days on the Innsbruck quay... Now it's nearly 1 a.m., so we decide to go to bed, full of love, sharing and incredible food in our bellies.

 

 

 

We're awakened by breakfast before arriving at the Gare de l'Est (Simplon). I don't think I can eat any more! I slept like a princess, dreaming of Hercule Poirot and Agatha Christie for sure. The return to normal life is going to be tough, that's for sure.

 

 

We get off the train and meet up with Christain, who has just received his lobsters, which he will serve at the lunchtime brunch for the last service of the season to London. The whole platform is abuzz with activity: Walter the barman is busy restocking his bar, the cooks are loading fresh food, and train lovers are out in force, cameras at the ready.

 

 

I love taking guided tours of museums to hear the stories behind the paintings, the poorly kept secrets of history. And of course I love biographies to learn all sorts of little stories, so for this trip I researched everything I could read about this train, and I recommend three of them:

"Venice Simplon Orient-Express" by Shirley Sherwood, Fifth Edition.

"L'Orient- Express, Véhicule des fantasmes" by Méryem Hani, published by Non Lieu.

"Il était une fois l'Orient Express" Beaux Arts éditions.

 

 

I'm well aware of how lucky I've been to have had this extraordinary experience. And I hope that one day you'll all have the opportunity to take this luxurious trip back in time. For I believe it is truly the trip of a lifetime. A big kiss to you all! And I'll see you tomorrow.

The photos were taken with a Leica T, a Leica M 75mm lens. You can find all my photos at Facebook.