In October 1893, the “Orient Express” left Paris for its maiden voyage to Romania. Six years later, it took 67 hours to travel in the luxury train with fine tapestries, velvet curtains and sparkling crystal goblets before reaching Constantinople (today’s Istanbul). At the turn of the century, the dream project of the Belgian Georges Nagelmackers became the epitome of prestige and chic in European aristocratic and social circles. Even today, the red carpet is rolled out for the guests of the train.
Meanwhile, “Chef de Maitre”, Christian Bodiguel (who already cooked at the “White House” in Washington), has salmon prepared with mussels and crabs in saffron sauce or quail with foie gras filling. Once the train is in motion, waiters juggle the delicacies on swaying railway boards and serve them to the tables. Served is served in restaurant car no. 4110, the inlays made of precious woods in the “Etoile-du-Nord style” are a stylish setting for the delights from the galley. Latique glass décor adds a touch of crowned heads. Frosted glass reliefs depict bacchanalian virgins, and in the second restaurant car, wild animals hunt over the black Chinese lacquer panels of the wood inlays. There is a subdued atmosphere in the dining car. Thick carpets swallow almost all sounds. Veal medallion with sweet bacon and spinach waffles is particularly close to the passing landscape in front of the large panoramic windows. The dessert of wild cherry custard with baked pears is intended as a sweet seduction. Fine wines from Bordeaux, Burgundy and the Loire round off the menu.
The “Five O’Clock Tea” with refined and high-calorie English “shortbread” is served by blue-liveried servants in the compartment. Meanwhile, some travelers are looking for the murderer, you can feel: Agatha Christie’s “Murder on the Orient Express” is omnipresent. Even if the train no longer runs from London to Istanbul, but only to Venice. For those who are still planning this journey, the murder in Agatha Christie’s crime thriller happened in the Pullman dining car No. 4141. For dinner, tuxedos are the order of the day. You can never be dressed elegantly enough on the Orient Express. During dinner, the night settles over the landscape between Tyrol and the Swiss border, which is elegantly rounded by the train.
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