by Lovers of winter sports and linen tablecloths (and red carpets, white gloves, polished brass, shiny marquetry, velvet upholstery and all the other trappings of a luxury train – rejoice. The Venice Simplon-Orient-Express (VSOE) has launched an annual 21-hour itinerary from Paris to Bourg-Saint-Maurice, in the heart of the French Alps.
Options for getting from the UK to the slopes by train are limited, to say the least. There is the Eurostar Snow Train service which runs once a week in season and requires a train change at Lille and there is the regular Eurostar to Paris followed by a TGV.
The new route, which will run at the end of December, offers a third option and reflects a growing enthusiasm for slow, eco-friendly and experiential travel. Getting to the French Alps by plane from the UK takes around two hours and generates at least 250kg of CO2. The train takes more than eight hours but generates less than 12 kg of CO2.
However, it is the experience that sets VSOE apart; in fact, it puts it in a class of its own. And with the rate for an overhead compartment for two people at just £10,000 per person, you’d hope so.
It’s a glorious return to a way of traveling that has become so unfamiliar that it’s become new again. So old-fashioned it’s out of fashion. This includes the historically authentic Heritage cabins. They are beautiful. Jewelry-like wonders of elegant and well thought out design. But tiny.
Beginners are often baffled. (“Really? That’s it? And no shower? And a shared bathroom at the end of the car?”) Hence the popularity of the recently introduced Suite and Grand Suite categories, which are approximately two and three times as large larger, respectively, than the Heritage Cabins. and they have their bathrooms. I’ve traveled in each of the three categories and I can tell you that any extra space in your compartment makes a disproportionate difference. Most VSOE itineraries, like this one, are overnight, with a few exceptions, including Paris to Istanbul, which lasts five nights.
I started with a night in Paris, having arrived on Eurostar. Due to the meticulously organized nature of the entire VSOE performance, the pre- and post-holiday portions may suffer in comparison. However, not this time. I got off to a good start at Plaza Athénée (dorchestercollection.com). Although the hotel is famous for its flower boxes filled with red geraniums (apparently the happy consequence of Marlene Dietrich’s affair with Jean Gabin), its interior courtyard was no less charming in its winter appearance, like an ice-skating rink illuminated by large waterfalls. of fairy lights suspended from the roofs. Combine that coup de theater with a sumptuous Second Empire-style suite, a treatment at the delicious new Dior Spa, and dinner at Jean Imbert au Plaza Athénée, I could almost have stayed put and forgotten about the Alps entirely.
But the mountains were calling. The train left Gare de l’Est at 15:20. A couple of hours later we were somewhere in the Champagne region, following the course of the Marne River at twilight. I raised a glass of soda towards him. terroir outside of where it had arisen. The sky and water were a silvery blue, the rest of the landscape was gloomy and indistinct. It would be dark soon. The train windows would become mirrors and the blinds would be closed.
I remembered a previous trip from Paris to Venice in the summer. It had a completely different feeling, I think more because of the season than the route. We were encouraged beforehand to jump out of bed at dawn to admire the sun rising over (or rather between and around) the Alps. Of the early risers who showed up around 5 a.m., several were in their pajamas. Somehow, this contributed more to the joyous tone of the occasion than all the tuxedos and sequined ball gowns from the previous night combined.
If this winter trip was necessarily more secluded and more introspective, it was no less enjoyable. There is only one service, the week before Christmas, and it is the last VSOE service of the year. Staff were excited to return home for the holidays, while passengers were excited to spend the holidays away from home, some in Chamonix, others in Courchevel and Val Thorens. The excitement grew as we moved deeper into the mountains, and was reflected in the expressions on the faces of local travelers who were not used to seeing the bright blue carriages pass by their platforms.
It seemed like everyone on the train was singing, almost all the time. Even the chef. Jean Imbert, the disheveled French prodigy who succeeded Alain Ducasse at the Plaza Athénée in 2022, was hired to oversee the VSOE kitchen the following year. I chose to stay at the Plaza Athénée for that reason: I wanted to compare Imbert’s hotel and train cuisine. But the result of my delightful experiment was inconclusive. Dinner in the train’s luxurious, mirror-adorned dining car was as satisfying as dinner in the hotel’s luxurious, mirror-adorned dining car. (On the train: leeks with black truffle, egg yolk and parmesan butter biscuits; Bresse chicken with Albufera sauce; Yule log with hazelnuts and coffee. At the hotel: brioche with caviar; lobster to the american; plum soufflé pancakes).
“The problem with cooking in the hotel,” Imbert said, “is that I have everything I could possibly need at my disposal. The problem with cooking on the train is that I haven’t done it.” This must be the only area where the VSOE observes a less is more policy.
I got off at Moûtiers, the gateway to the gigantic Trois Vallées ski area, at 11:38. A short drive took me to Méribel, an extremely attractive resort. Swapping my gently swaying suite for stationary runway-side luxury, I stayed at Le Coucou (lecoucoumeribel.com). Its location next to the ski slopes was unbeatable; the staff was young and friendly; The look of the hotel is both respectful of its context and endearingly fun.
No one needs a reason to take the Orient Express Venice-Simplon. But if you did, arriving in Méribel in incomparably elegant style for Christmas and New Year would be as good a reason as any.
Essentials
The next Venice Simplon-Orient-Express (0800 058 1237; belmond.com) departure for the French Alps is on December 19, 2024. Departure from Paris Gare de ‘Est at 15:20 and stopover in Albertville (10:36), Moûtiers (11:38) and Bourg-Saint- Maurice (12:45) . Prices start at £3,785 per person, if two share a historic cottage; £7,300 per person for a suite; and £9,975 per person for a Grand Suite.
This includes a 24-hour personal butler, meals accompanied by wine chosen by the sommelier, soft drinks, unlimited coffee and tea, and transfers within Paris to the Gare de l’Est. Grand Suite guests also enjoy check-in service, champagne and caviar upon arrival in the Alps.
Steve King was a guest of Venice Simplon-Orient-Express, Hôtel Plaza Athénée, Méribel Tourisme and Hôtel Le Coucou.
