Gare de l'Est, Paris, 18:45
Outside of the Gare de l'Est is a newspaper stall, a cafe, a restaurant, a jewellery store and other such fine stores. On the exterior at the top of the west façade of the Gare de l'Est is a statue by the sculptor Philippe-Joseph-Henri Lemaire, representing the city of Strasbourg, while the east end of the station is crowned by a statue personifying Verdun, by Varenne. These two cities are important destinations serviced by Gare de l'Est.Inside, steel support struts and bars line the curved roof, holding up rotund grey lights. Arched windows fill the second floor of the west and east walls with frosted glass that glints in the fading light. A a large painting signed by Alfred Herter (1926) shows the soldiers of 1914 leaving for the front hangs proudly above the ticketing booths. Representations of agricultural products and coat of arms of the 32 most important cities of eastern France decorate the access arcade.
Within the Gare de l'Est, once you get through the first part of the immense building you can reach the section where the Orient Express travels, where there are only two tracks. The Orient Express will be on the far track though it isn't due to arrive for another fifteen minutes or so judging by the large clock placed among the support struts.
There are a few people already milling about the train station platform. A French gendarme stands awkwardly beside a ten-year-old girl with red-rimmed eyes and shadows of sleep deprivation beneath them who sits upon two leather luggage cases. A handsome man stands beside an enormous luggage case about three feet high by three feet long and one and a half feet across alongside a regular luggage case - how he is going to fit them both inside his compartment is anyone's guess. A forlorn womandabs at her eyes as she stands just off to one side, not far from where people scurry to catch other trains, dabbing away at tears that keep springing to her eyes.
