I have the Orient Express

 Well, not quite. I mean I don't haave share in the company (because yes, you can still travel on it), or own a wagon of the Orient Express, but you remember the Orient Express jigsaw puzzle? I have been obsessing about for a few years now. Well, my wife bought it for me for Christmas. 1000 pieces, this may be beyond my skills, but I will sure try to do it.

The Orient Express Puzzle

You know I love trains, old steam trains and luxury trains, so of course I love the  Orient Express. Since the first time I saw it, some two years ago, I keep seeing it again in posh local shops and it keeps taunting me. I don't even like puzzles all that much, but this one has class. I have it on my present lists for Christmas this year, maybe for my birthday next. In any case, I think it looks very stylish.

From Russia With Love

As I am reading spy fiction for this year's #Noirvember, it just struck me that some James Bond novels would be really suitable for it. And more enjoyable than what I'm reading, as Ian Fleming is a genuinely good writer. He writes more colourful and itneresting characters, in any case. Anyway, one of the Bond novels I would suggest for Noirvember would be From Russia With Love, which may be one of Fleming's darkest. Not to spoil anything, but its ending is dramatic and very different than one you would expect if you have only seen the movies. It's borderline Noir. Oh and, on a side note, for train afficionados like myself, a fairly lenghty portion of the action is set on the Orient Express. That last point is not Noirvember relevant, but it just makes the novel even cooler.

The Orient Express Puzzle

During my Christmas shopping last year, I went to a local gifts shop. I was happy to find the jogsaw puzzle of the Orient Express I once saw in the local bookshop. I didn't buy it, because I was busy buying presents to others, but I put it on my list for the future. Maybe I will receive it on my birthday.

Train Holidays

 I receive lots of news reading suggestions online, thanks to algorithms. So an article from Euro News recently caught my attention, about the best train journeys in the world. Some I knew about, some I did not. If time and money were no objection, I would so go to one of these journeys for a holiday. Taking the train can be in itself a holiday. My favourite would probably be the Orient Express. But I am curious about Rovos Rail and the more I learn about the Glacier Express, the more I want to try it. I have been to Switzerland only once, and very briefly, so I would love to revisit the country. And I know even their ordinary trains are absolutely brilliant, so imagine the Glacier. Anyway, I really want a train holiday when the journey would be more important than the destination. And you, what of all these train journeys would you like to experiment?

Horror on the Orient Express

Decades ago, I used to be a game master for  Call of Cthulhu,the role playing game based on the work of H.P. Lovecraft. Sadly never round Halloween time. It's a shame: it would have been perfect for the season, one more way to enjoy its spooky aspects. I always try to put a bit of Lovecraft flavouring on my Halloween. Anyway, there is one module I have always wanted to try: Horror on the Orient Express. I love trains any time of year and it's no different round Halloween. I blogged very often (and recently) how much they suit the horror genre, having modernity and technology clash with the supernatural. A classic train like the Orient Express is just the perfect horror setting, with the comfort and the cosy atmosphere disturbed by paranormal dangers. Apparently, it's an excellent game, although a highly risky one for the characters. But then again, I would expect no less. Anyway, I hope I can get my hands on it one day and find a few players. For those who enjoyed it, please leave a comment.

A Train Mug

 I have a sort of problem in this household: our cupboards are crammed with glasses and mugs. We have too many of them. And I have another problem: I want yet another mug. I don't collect them or anything like that. I have no particular interest in glasses or mugs. But I love everything train and railways. And we do not have a train mug. And I genuinely think it is sorely missing. It's like a piece of memorabilia that will make my everyday life cooler. So yeah, I found on Amazon this Train Enamel Mug. With many classic trains on it, including the Orient Express. I know I should not be consumerist. I know I can drink from any cup, literally. I know there's no room here for it. Yet I really want it. Boy do I feel like a sucker. Oh, and one last comment about it: it says on the description that it's a "Men's Gift". You don't say.

Dining on The Orient Express

I watched with interest this new video from YouTube channel Tasting History. It talks of the food on the Orient Express. Not so much for the food (although it does look yummy) as for the history of the world's most iconic train, which I knew fairly little about. Anyway, I had to share it. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

The Orient Express (jigsaw)

 A couple of weeks ago, I saw this jigsaw puzzle as part of the window dressing of our local bookshop. Because bookshops don't only sell books, sometimes they sell other cool stuff, such as games, such as this gorgeous, gorgeous puzzle. So anyway, I love all things trains, especially old steam trains and no train can be cooler and more glamorous than the Orient Express. Well, okay, maybe one train matches it, but not many. I am not very good with jigsaw puzzles and this one is 1000 pieces, yet I suggested it to my wife as a Christmas present. I did not get it. But my birthday is in April, so who know what might happen then. Be that as it may, just because it's the Orient Express, I would love to have it.

Longing for the Orient Express

My readers know my love for trains in general and for old steam trains in particular. I read recently this article from the Financial Times about the most famous train of all, the Orient Express. It is 100 years this year and it still provides services. I knew it, nevertheless this feels surreal. It seems to be pure railway journey porn, mixed with nostalgia porn, nevertheless it would be my dream holiday. Probbly because it sells luxury, decadent railway travel and nostalgia. And at a very high price: a one day initerary from Paris to Venice starts at £2,750 per person, which is waaayyy above what I can afford. All the same, I would really love to try it just once.

The Orient Express (by LGB)

I found a few years ago this picture of the Orient Express by LGB. The model trains we have in our family home are all LGBs. My father often told my brothers and I of the limited edition wagon of the Orient Express he once saw in a shop of Quebec City, and regretted to this day not to buy. I don't know if this is the limited edition, but it is a gorgeous model and I wish I could buy it. Trains have been the fuel of my imagination since I was a young child, thanks to the LGB train we grew up with. Trains were an important part of our make belief games, as settings as well as a mean of transport. The Orient Express, due to its iconic and legendary status, which I was already aware of (read this post for more details), was on my mind a lot when I imagined our heroic alter egos living adventures on the railway. So I wish we have had at least one wagon of it.

Orient Express

Yesterday, I watched this documentary with David Suchet about the Orient Express. It is now of course most famous for Murder on the Orient Express. Fleming also used the Orient Express brilliantly in From Russia With Love. As a child, I used to be a fan of Agatha Christie, but strangely I never read this novel, although I saw one of the movies adaptations. And I really enjoyed the Muppets parody. Anyway, even though I never read the novel, as trains fascinate me since childhood, I have been fascinated by the Orient Express as an icon. I was not the only one: my dad always regretted not buying the LGB Orient Express wagon. He still told me about it in his last visit, while my mum was rolling her eyes.

I am not into Agatha Christie and whodunits anymore. For me, the best crime novel I read that was set in a train was La maldonne des sleepings of Tonino Benacquista. It was in a much less glamorous train than the Orient Express, but it is fast paced, suspenseful, full of character(s) and you can even see Venice. But I do find the glamour of the Orient Express appealing. It is almost a shame that it is now associated with a whodunit (I really grew out of those as you can see). I mean, trains can be great settings for adventure/crime stories: they have character, they can create feelings of both motion and claustrophobia, random meetings among the travellers can lead to drama, even tragedy, danger hides beneath the veneer of civility and civilisation (case in point). The Orient Express emphasises this, its glamour barely hiding how feral humans can be.