Expertly crafted silk drapes, fine crystal goblets, royal-red sumptuous sofas and navy-blue gilded fixtures. The decadent Orient Express was the first transcontinental luxury train in Europe, and made history in 1883 when it crossed ten countries in a single journey, transporting passengers from Paris to Constantinople in 76 hours.
Orient Express: The Legend of Travel, published by Assouline, is a photographic guide to the history and intrigue surrounding this mythic train. At the height of its success, the Orient Express was the most popular mode of transport for Europe’s upper-crust. International icons including Marlene Dietrich and Grace Kelly have slept in its opulent carriages, while writers such as Hemingway and Agatha Christie have used the train as inspiration when scheming their romantic sagas.
Christie was a particular fan and took more than sixty trips. “The Orient Express is undoubtedly my favourite train,” she once said. “I like its tempo, which begins with an allegro con furore – the train shakes, crackles and launches in every direction in its mad hurry to leave Calais and the West – and gradually becomes rallentando while continuing on its route to the Orient before indisputably opting for legato.” Christie, a musician, often wrote rhythmic intrigues. In fact, she met her second husband on board the Orient Express, and fondly spent her honeymoon there.
“Both a means of transportation and a meeting place, this hotel on wheels was a vehicle for many fantasies,” writes French journalist and Orient Express: The Legend of Travel author Sixtine Dubly. “On its journey, the Orient Express seduced writers and artists, as depicted in articles, stories, fables, novels, and movies.” The first-ever train with sleeper and restaurant cars, the Orient Express passed through the most beauteous European capitals including Vienna, Budapest, Milan and Venice.
Its unique qualities made it a blue-blooded nomad’s oasis. It was sophisticated, and blended old-world glamour with state-of-the-art technology. More than a century after its maiden voyage, it continues to fascinate and inspire. “From its beginnings, the name of the Orient Express operated as a passport: a passage from the real to the imaginary and from yesterday to today.”
Dubly is a captivating and descriptive storyteller, writing about the industry’s technical innovations, as well as the key players involved in the train’s construction, including Belgian engineer Georges Lambert Nagelmackers, the visionary behind the illustrious engine.
The legend of the Orient Express is a story of romance, mystery, adventure and promiscuity. A tale that the Orient Express: The Legend of Travel tells with great colour and character.
