Last month I shared some of the photos I'd taken during our 2014 visit to the Orient Express exhibition at the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris. But the railroad carriages were only part of the items on display--one of the lower floors of the Institute's main building was filled with posters*, maps, tableware and china (commissioned from all the finest makers), and re-creations of various train compartments over the years, while all the movies ever filmed on the Orient Express were projected on the walls surrounding the exhibits. It was clear that no expense was spared to provide their passengers with the most luxurious forms of travel possible. For example, for those who wished to visit places beyond the train's final destination, buses like this one were provided.
[Rolls Royce bus in Lebanon, c. 1935 | Anonymous (SNCF Archives). Arlberg Orient Express]
*This link will take you to a website where you can examine 10 gorgeous Orient Express posters and related materials.
Bonnie and I spent a week in Paris during my 2014 visit to France and among the many wonderful things we saw was the Orient Express exhibition at the Institut du Monde Arabe (Arab World Institute). Every place in the dining car was set as if some famous passenger (real or fictional) had been sitting there, a list that included Agatha Christie, Josephine Baker (with her fur coat), Graham Greene, Lawrence of Arabia and Hercule Poirot. The death scene from Murder on the Orient Express was staged in one of the sleeping compartments.
[From my personal collection]
And here's a video that shows much more than my photos can.
