On the ‘New’ Orient Express, it’s the Fantasy That Counts

Travel Blog  •  Eva Holland  •  09.23.08 | 10:15 AM ET

orientthumbPhoto by Zed.Cat via Flickr (Creative Commons)

The Independent’s Kate Simon recently took a ride on the Orient Express to celebrate the venerable route’s 125th birthday—but, as she points out in an essay about the trip, the current luxury trains that bear the name are not the true descendants of the original. That honor goes instead to a TGV line out of Strasbourg.

Still, Simon wasn’t ready to leave her mahogany-paneled carriage behind over a technicality: “I’m going in search of the spirit of this journey not its provenance,” she writes. “I want to discover what it’s like aboard the glamorous Orient Express that lives in our collective imagination.”

Tags: Train Travel, News and Briefs

Eva Holland is co-editor of World Hum. She is a former associate editor at Up Here and Up Here Business magazines, and a contributor to Vela. She's based in Canada's Yukon territory.


1 Comment for On the ‘New’ Orient Express, it’s the Fantasy That Counts

Jeff Paulett 09.24.08 | 5:02 AM ET

Personally, I’m with Kate on this. The ‘new’ Orient-Express uses the original Wagot-Lits carriages - beautifully restored, and more fully encapsulates the spirit of the original Orient-Express.

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