The gastronomic offer of the Orient Express wagons varied according to the countries through which they passed.
“The adventure that I am going to tell you about may seem like the dream of a waking man. […] Exactly thirteen days ago I left the banks of the Oise to catch the fast train to the Orient. , at the Strasbourg station; and in these thirteen days, I have been able to reach Constantinople , I have walked, instructed, entertained and I even find myself rested ready to leave tomorrow, if necessary, and on the same train, to Madrid or Saint Petersburg. All of this, moreover, taking into account that we made a twenty-four-hour break in that eastern France called Romania , that we attended the inauguration of a summer palace in the Carpathians , that we had tea with a king and a queen, and that we had to attend a sumptuous banquet in bucharest pignon house . It is said, and rightly so, that our time is fertile in miracles: I have not seen anything like it, nothing more extraordinary than this odyssey, whose dust still stains my hat.
That's how fascinated I started the journalist Edmond About the chronicle of him after participate in the maiden voyage of the Orient Express . He was the October 4, 1883 when The most luxurious train in the world left Paris for Istanbul with 40 guests among whom were engineers, civil servants and people from the press. A journey of more than 80 hours that at that time required 2 transfers, taking a boat, and in which moments of all kinds were experienced. A year later About collected them in a book called From Pontoise to Istanbul.
AN UNUSUAL LUXURY
The idea had been Georges Nagelmackers, a Belgian engineer that after seeing the sleeping cars of American Pullman trains, he came back with the idea of doing a luxury line that toured Europe from east to west . It was not an easy project, since it required a lot of bureaucracy, and the routes were not all homogeneous. Still, he went ahead with his plan and in 1882 a trial train linked Paris with Vienna in 21 hours and 53 minutes. A few months later, On June 5, 1883, the Orient Express would enter service..
“Three mobile homes – explains About - seventeen and a half meters long, carriages built of teak and glass, heated by steam, brilliantly lit by gas, and as comfortable, at least, as a rich Paris apartment. . As he left, many friends and onlookers went to say goodbye. And, in fact, along the way there were many people and personalities who wanted to see (and some get on) this unique train.
The Orient Express has a route of more than 3,000 kilometers.
The restaurant cars were another of the strengths of the Orient Express . At the gastronomic level, an attempt was made to offer diners the best of the countries they passed through, although in some cases – About says – the menu was not up to par, perhaps – he points out – because the waiters were “overwhelmed by so much opulence”.
What did amaze him was the way everything was laid out on the table. , in the case of a train that at times reached 90 kilometers per hour. “I know how often drinks are spilled and how when you drink, the liquid spills onto your shirt. Well, the Nagelmackers service is not afraid to place three or four glasses in front of each of us in a highly unstable balance. You can tell these seasoned guys have boundless confidence in the poise of their mobile restaurant.”
The Orient Express has a route of more than 3,000 kilometers.
A restaurant, by the way, that was not free of problems since, according to what they say, the wagon had some construction defect . “The axle was overheating: a smell of burnt fat noticed by sharp-nosed engineers. It was not dangerous, but a repair was necessary and could not be carried out while running. It would be necessary to dismantle practically the entire wagon. But everything was planned and in no time the entire kitchen team embarked in another dining car not so new and less bright, but with everything necessary.
When they returned from Constantinople there it was fixed waiting for repairs in Munich. About also speaks in his chronicles of the bathrooms of "irreproachable cleanliness" although he warns that the number of toilets was perhaps insufficient and they had to queue sometimes for a long time.
MUSIC AND KINGS
On this first trip, by the way, no women were invited. . She feared for her safety and in fact, she encouraged passengers to carry a revolver for what might happen. About also explains in detail moments that they experienced during the route, such as when during a visit to the Sinaia Palace, they received an invitation from the King and Queen of Romania . The journalists, without gala dress, and drenched by the rain that surprised them on the way, attended the meeting and were able to see the monarch making a singing demonstration.
Music was present in more moments of his route, such as when a group of gypsies boarded the train to entertain them with their dances and songs . Upon their arrival in Istanbul they were able to attend various receptions, see how they were preparing for the festival of the lamb and also visited the bazaars and the Hagia Sophia mosque, about which About had a rather critical opinion.
Along the more than 3,000 kilometers of route it passed through different time zones, but it was decided to keep the train clock on Paris time. And it is precisely there, back to its origin, where 7 completely restored wagons of this mythical train have just been presented . The order has been from the SNCF, the French railway company . Who knows if with the idea of resurrecting, one day, this train that fed so many stories and legends.
Illustration of the Orient Express dining car (1885)