It is to James Sherwood (1933-2020) that we owe the rescue of the mythical Venice – Simplon – Orient-Express (VSOE), the only way today to connect Venice by direct train from Paris. This American living in London founded the Belmond group. It all started in 1976, when he acquired the Hotel Cipriani, at the tip of the Giudecca.
A few years later, during an auction organized by Sotheby’s in Monaco, he managed to buy two of the cars of the mythical train of the Compagnie des wagons-lits, the king of Morocco offering himself the other two. He then instructs a team of engineers to travel the world to reconstruct the train and its seventeen cars. The best craftsmen in France are mobilized, such as the marquetry expert from Clermont-Ferrand Philippe Allemand, trained at the Ecole Boulle, whose two children have taken over the business, to restore them according to the rules of the art. “They are the ones who made the marquetry of the new suites that we are going to open in July”explains Pascal Deyrolle, director of the VSOE.
This enthusiast came on board in 1992. “I had the chance to serve the filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola and his daughter Sofia, Keith Richards, the guitarist of the Stones, who sat down at the piano at night in the bar car when there were no more that the staff »says this train lover, inexhaustible on the unique moments experienced on board.
Chinese lacquers, marquetry flower bouquets or Lalique crystals, each car is a unique decor, designed by a different designer in the 1920s. “You can even travel in the 3309, which got stuck in the infamous snowstorm five days before Istanbul in 1929”adds the inexhaustible Pascal Deyrolle.
No trip on the Venice – Simplon – Orient-Express is like any other, but it comes at a cost. The “classic Paris-Venice” approach 4,000 euros per person. A driver picks you up from your home, the dinner is designed by chef Jean Imbert and it is strongly recommended to wear a long dress or a tuxedo. The bar stays open all night. The success is there: 28% increase in turnover between this year compared to 2022, which had beaten the 2019 record.
Belmond, which has belonged to LVMH since 2019, is therefore expanding its offer. It is now possible to go to Moûtiers, Albertville or Bourg-Saint-Maurice (Savoie) in December, and to Vienne at Christmas. The group has other legendary trains travel, such as the Royal Scotsman in Scotland, which has just been equipped with a Dior spa.
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