by Lovers of winter sports and linen tablecloths – and red carpets, white gloves, polished brass, gleaming marquetry, velvet upholstery and all other trappings of train de luxe – joy. The Venice Simplon-Orient-Express (VSOE) launched a 21-hour program, once a year from Paris to Bourg-Saint-Maurice in the heart of the French Alps.
The options for getting from the UK to the slopes by rail are limited, to say the least. There is a Eurostar Snow Train service, which runs once a week in season and requires a change of train in Lille followed by the regular Eurostar to Paris and TGV.
The new route, which will take place in late December, provides a third option and reflects the growing enthusiasm for slow, green and experiential travel. It takes around two hours to get from the UK to the French Alps by plane and generates at least 250kg of CO2. The train takes more than eight hours but generates less than 12kg of CO2.
However, it’s the experience that sets the VSOE apart – in fact, it puts it in a class of its own. And with the tariff for an upper compartment for two at just shy of £10,000 per person, you’re in for a treat then.
It is a glorious retreat into an unfamiliar mode of travel. So old fashioned that it is modern. This includes the historically authentic Heritage Cabins. They are great. Jewel-like marvels of thoughtful, elegant design. But tiny.
People are often worried for the first time. (“Really? That’s it? And no shower? And a shared loo at the end of the carriage?”) Hence the popularity of the recently introduced Suite and Grand Suite categories, which are about two and three times less rather more than Heritage Cabins, and have their bathrooms. I’ve traveled in all 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 takes five nights.
I started with a night in Paris, having arrived via Eurostar. Due to the phase-managed nature of all VSOE performance, the pre- and post-holiday segments can be inferior in comparison. However, not on this occasion. I got off on the right foot at the Plaza Athénée (dorchestercollection.com). Although the hotel is famous for its window boxes overflowing with red geraniums (apparently a happy consequence of Marlene Dietrich’s affair with Jean Gabin), the inner courtyard was no less wintry, as an ice skating rink illuminated by large cascades of. fairy lights hanging from the roofs. Combine that coup de théâtre with a sumptuous Second Empire-style room, a treatment at the luscious new Dior Spa and dinner at Jean Imbert au Plaza Athénée and I could almost have left and forgotten the Alps altogether.
But the mountains were calling. The train left the Gare de l’Est at 15:20. A few hours later we were somewhere in the Champagne region, following the course of the Marne in the twilight. I raised a glass of fizz to the terrorist out of which he came. The sky and water were silvery blue, the rest of the landscape shadowy and vague. It would soon be dark. The train windows would turn into mirrors, the blinds would be drawn.
I remembered a previous trip from Paris to Venice in the summer. It had a completely different feel – more, I think, due to the season than the route. We were encouraged in advance to jump out of bed at dawn to see the sun rise over the Alps – or somewhere in between. Of the early birds that appeared around 5am, several were in their pyjamas. Somehow this added more to the joyous tone of the occasion than the dinner jackets and spangled party frocks put together the night before.
If this winter trip was necessarily tidier and more thoughtful in, it was less enjoyable. There is only one service available, in the week before Christmas, and it is the last run of the year for VSOE. The crew were excited to go home for the holidays and the passengers were excited about spending the Christmas season away from home, some in Chamonix, others in Courchevel and Val Thorens. The excitement grew as we got further into the mountains – and it was evident in the expressions on the faces of local commuters who weren’t used to seeing the shiny blue carriages gliding past their platforms.
Everyone on the train, it seemed, was singing almost all the time. Even the cook. Jean Imbert, the great French poet who succeeded Alain Ducasse at the Plaza Athénée in 2022, was recruited to supervise the kitchen of the VSOE the following year. I chose to stay at the Plaza Athénée for that reason: I wanted to compare a hotel with Imbert’s train cooking. But the result of my delicious experiment was inconclusive. Dinner in the plush, ornately mirrored dining car on the train was as satisfying as dinner in the ornately decorated dining room at the hotel. (On the train: leeks with black truffle, egg yolk and parmesan shortbread; Bresse chicken with Albufera sauce; hazelnut and Yule log coffee. At the hotel: brioche with caviar; lobster from américaine; plum soufflé pancakes.)
“The problem with cooking in the hotel,” said Ibert, “is that I have everything I could possibly need. The problem with cooking on the train is that there isn’t.” That must be the only respect that the VSOE adheres to a policy that is not so great.
I landed on Moûtiers, the gateway to the huge Trois Vallées ski area, on the dot at 11:38. A short drive took me to Méribel, a very preppy resort. Trading my swing-ready suite for steady piste-side luxury, I set up at Le Coucou (lecoucoumeribel.com). Its ski-in/ski-out location was unbeatable; the staff were young and friendly; the appearance of the hotel at the same time respectful of its context and very fun.
No one needs a reason to take the Venice-Simplon Orient Express. But if you did, it would be a good reason as you are going to Méribel in unmatched style for Christmas and New Year.
Fundamentals
First Venice Simplon-Orient-Express (0800 058 1237; belmond.com) departure to the French Alps on December 19, 2024. Departing Paris Gare de’Est at 15:20 and calling at Albertville (10:36), Moûtiers (11:38) and Bourg-Saint-Maurice (12: 45). Prices start at £3,785 per person based on two people sharing a Historic Cabin; £7,300 per person for a Suite; and £9,975 per person for a Grand Suite.
This includes an hourly personal butler, meals accompanied by the sommelier’s wine selection, unlimited soft drinks, coffee and tea, and transfers within Paris to Gare de l’Est. Grand Suite guests enjoy check-in service, champagne and caviar upon arrival in the Alps.
Steve King was a guest at the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express, Hôtel Plaza Athénée, Méribel Tourisme and Hôtel Le Coucou.
