MURDER SHE RODE
Love and mystery on the Orient Express
Will there be a murder during the journey? I can’t make any guarantees. After all, we are famous for that.” Michele Rocca, the train manager, had a mischievous grin as he played with the prospect of serious skulduggery on the train that more than any other conveys the magic, the mystique, the romance and, yes, the intrigue of travel — the Orient Express, known today as the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express. More than 80 years after the publication of Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express, the story continues to exercise a hold on the public imagination. So much so that despite the fact there have been several film versions of the story, November saw the release of another star-studded take on the story, an all-singing, all-dancing reworking directed by Kenneth Branagh, and starring, in addition to Branagh as super sleuth detective Hercule Poirot, Dame Judi Dench, Penélope Cruz, Johnny Depp and Derek Jacobi.
JOURNEY TO ISTANBUL
In Christie’s book the murder takes place when the train is stuck in a snow drift north of Belgrade, a key stopping point on what was the route from Paris to Istanbul.
For travellers keen to have an inkling of what such a journey might have been like, the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express once a year revisits one of the world’s seminal moments of train history by offering a journey to Istanbul and back.
I was talking to Michele earlier this week as a passenger on this year’s return leg of the journey, in this case to Venice.
ON THE DANUBE
We had just left Istanbul, contemplating what promised to be an epic six-day voyage.
It was time to dress for dinner. “In keeping with the spirit of the occasion you can never be overdressed on board,” passengers are advised. “You may want to don your most glamorous finery.”
Most of us did. On that first night, almost all the male guests were in black tie, accompanied by ladies in long dresses or cocktail style.
But there were many on board simply because this is a signature journey, something they had dreamt of doing. Compared with the more frequent London to Venice sortie, this has richer historic resonance and a more complex itinerary.
Before it had fully registered we were at the mighty bridge that spans the Danube, almost at its widest at this point, leading on into Romania.
PALACE OF THE PEOPLE
Our main destination in Romania was Bucharest, a city of such architectural delight in the inter-war years that it was referred to as the Paris of the Balkans. The city’s outstanding feature today is the gargantuan Palace of the People built by the communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu. The scale is astonishing (it is the second-largest building in the world after the Pentagon) and in a bizarre way it is a wonder to behold.
The following day as we reboarded the train at the Gara de Nord we were given an uplifting sendoff by a choir containing some of the best singers in the city.
A deep mist descended while we were at Sinaia, a town and resort high in the hills of the Carpathians at the start of the region best known as Transylvania. “You had better keep your necks covered,” warned Michael, our guide. “It would be very like Dracula to take advantage of this very unusual situation.”
Of course the main reason for visiting the dining cars is to sample the food — which included lobsters from Brittany, seared fresh duck foie gras, chicken oyster and soft water crayfish fricassee and a delightful ginger icecream confection. Each meal is a mini miracle of Michelin-starred creativity. And in a lovely touch, Christian Bodiguel, the
French head chef with more than 30 years’ experience on board, walked along the carriages signing copies of the day’s menus.
By day four I heard the odd muttering about there being too much food — but somehow we all made it back for the sittings at lunchtime and dinner, relishing the chance to experience the different atmospheres of the dining cars.
Our other overnight hotel stay was in Budapest, bisected by the River Danube.
The journey took a very different turn as we crossed into Austria during the course of our final night on board.
Scenery wise this was probably the highlight of the trip and it was fitting that as we approached Venice itself we had time to reflect on what everyone I spoke to considered to have been a journey that not only met but exceeded expectation. Istanbul felt like a very long time ago.
There may not have been a murder on board — but there was mystery and magic and music pretty much every step of the way.
It’s certainly the best train I have ever travelled on.