The Orient-Express, a mythical name alluding to lots of memories and dream. This luxury train from 1883 used to carry thousands of travelers across Europe, from Paris to Istanbul, Turkey. Created by Georges Nagelmackers, it used to join “the East to the Orient”, hence the name. French hotel group Accor announced they are willing to re-use the 17 original cars by 2024 to complete extraordinary journeys between Paris and Vienna.
Accor enjoys the "Orient-Express" label with SNCF, but retrieving the Orient Express’s gorgeous wagons is an obstacle course, since the legendary train met a lot of owners across eras. Sold several times, then left, the train was scattered across Europe, all the way to Poland. In 2015, a searcher specialized in industrial history, Arthur Mettetal, found thanks to the Internet traces of the cars, in a still pretty good condition for several of them.
In 2018, after an agreement, the 17 cars including 12 sleeping cars, 1 restaurant, 3 lounges, and 1 baggage car are repatriated in France. Since then, the company endeavors to “make the legend rises” to allow cars to come back for the 2024 Olympics. The new version of the world’s most luxury train in the 19th century will be presented in October 2022. The rates of this exceptional journey or the departures from Paris to Vienna are not known yet.
