January 06 - Arriving in Paris
Posted: Mon Apr 04, 2022 5:35 pm
The Trip
Tickets for the train are booked at the offices of Thomas Cook & Son or via the Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits. The trip from London to Paris takes about eight hours. The train travels leisurely but without stopping, through the English countryside, through Kent, across the Romney marsh grasses, and fi nally into Dover, a journey requiring a little under two hours to make. Travelers find themselves nonplussed by the comparative dash: few trains in this part of England run without intermediate stops. At Dover, passengers board the ferry for the coast of France and the city of Calais. The crossing ordinarily requires a few hours. Althought tales of hellish winds and of waves pitching ships about like matchboxes are the stock of every seasoned British traveler, the crossing this tome goes smooth. Once at Calais on the French side of the Channel, passengers board a train which is not the Express itself, but one which includes cars which will be linked with the main body of the Simplon-Orient Express.
Paris
Paris is the densest city in Europe. Within the fortifications of Paris, an area of only 30 square miles, are nearly three million people, and a million more in the suburbs without. Paris is the quintessence of urban sophistication. After its reconstruction by Baron Haussmann in the 1850s, Paris was truly a modern city. Its long boulevards are lined with elegant terraces. The meandering little streets of the medieval city have been pushed out of sight, though the wandering visitor easily finds charming back streets. Investigators are also struck by the amount of statuary: at Notre Dame, the museums, the galleries, in public places, everywhere.
The aesthetic appeal of such a mixture of grandeur and intimacy is obvious, and it attracts every person of taste. The city offers a huge variety of shops, boutiques, and restaurants to those with money. English-speaking expatriates in Paris in the 1920s include Joyce, Hemingway, and Fitzgerald. A guidebook of the time comments, “Forms of politeness are more ceremonious in France than in Great Britain or America.” Men doff their hats in restaurants and cafes, and frequently also in shops, picturegalleries, and the like, though in the theatre they keep them on until the curtain rises. They greet each other by raising their hats. Gentlemen are expected to salute a lady before she bows to them, and, in speaking to her, to remain uncovered until requested to resume their hats. The hat is raised also to any lady passed on the stair of a flat and when a funeral is passed in the streets. Evening dress is usual at the Opera and at dinner in the first-class hotels and restaurants. The afternoon is the proper time for formal calls and for the presentation of letters of introduction, which should never be sent by post.
Restaurants and cafes arguably offer the finest food in the world. Taxis are abundant and there is a network of buses and trams. The Metropolitain, the Parisian subway system, criss-crosses the city. Though the actual situation is made somewhat more complicated by the existence of what amounts to commercial and regional coinages, the French franc is in denominations of from 5- to 500-franc paper notes. One hundred centimes make up a franc. The currency trades at about 20 francs to the British pound, but the franc may be discounted by private parties at up to half again that rate.
In January of 1923 in Paris, all eyes are on the Ruhr. French and Belgian troops occupy the area on January 11th to force Germany to pay its reparations as a result of the Great War. There are real fears that this will lead to fresh conflict, and the streets are rife with protest.
As the investigators arrive at their hotel, after they took their time to settle down, the staff hands them some maps and brochures of Paris. The information also includes directions to the famous Bibliotheque Nationale.
The investigators arrive at the Gare du Nord on the morning of January sixth. The Gare du Nord accommodates the trains that run between the capital and northern France, as well as to international destinations in Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. The station offers connections with several urban transport lines, including the Paris Métro.
Tickets for the train are booked at the offices of Thomas Cook & Son or via the Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits. The trip from London to Paris takes about eight hours. The train travels leisurely but without stopping, through the English countryside, through Kent, across the Romney marsh grasses, and fi nally into Dover, a journey requiring a little under two hours to make. Travelers find themselves nonplussed by the comparative dash: few trains in this part of England run without intermediate stops. At Dover, passengers board the ferry for the coast of France and the city of Calais. The crossing ordinarily requires a few hours. Althought tales of hellish winds and of waves pitching ships about like matchboxes are the stock of every seasoned British traveler, the crossing this tome goes smooth. Once at Calais on the French side of the Channel, passengers board a train which is not the Express itself, but one which includes cars which will be linked with the main body of the Simplon-Orient Express.
Paris
Paris is the densest city in Europe. Within the fortifications of Paris, an area of only 30 square miles, are nearly three million people, and a million more in the suburbs without. Paris is the quintessence of urban sophistication. After its reconstruction by Baron Haussmann in the 1850s, Paris was truly a modern city. Its long boulevards are lined with elegant terraces. The meandering little streets of the medieval city have been pushed out of sight, though the wandering visitor easily finds charming back streets. Investigators are also struck by the amount of statuary: at Notre Dame, the museums, the galleries, in public places, everywhere.
The aesthetic appeal of such a mixture of grandeur and intimacy is obvious, and it attracts every person of taste. The city offers a huge variety of shops, boutiques, and restaurants to those with money. English-speaking expatriates in Paris in the 1920s include Joyce, Hemingway, and Fitzgerald. A guidebook of the time comments, “Forms of politeness are more ceremonious in France than in Great Britain or America.” Men doff their hats in restaurants and cafes, and frequently also in shops, picturegalleries, and the like, though in the theatre they keep them on until the curtain rises. They greet each other by raising their hats. Gentlemen are expected to salute a lady before she bows to them, and, in speaking to her, to remain uncovered until requested to resume their hats. The hat is raised also to any lady passed on the stair of a flat and when a funeral is passed in the streets. Evening dress is usual at the Opera and at dinner in the first-class hotels and restaurants. The afternoon is the proper time for formal calls and for the presentation of letters of introduction, which should never be sent by post.
Restaurants and cafes arguably offer the finest food in the world. Taxis are abundant and there is a network of buses and trams. The Metropolitain, the Parisian subway system, criss-crosses the city. Though the actual situation is made somewhat more complicated by the existence of what amounts to commercial and regional coinages, the French franc is in denominations of from 5- to 500-franc paper notes. One hundred centimes make up a franc. The currency trades at about 20 francs to the British pound, but the franc may be discounted by private parties at up to half again that rate.
In January of 1923 in Paris, all eyes are on the Ruhr. French and Belgian troops occupy the area on January 11th to force Germany to pay its reparations as a result of the Great War. There are real fears that this will lead to fresh conflict, and the streets are rife with protest.
As the investigators arrive at their hotel, after they took their time to settle down, the staff hands them some maps and brochures of Paris. The information also includes directions to the famous Bibliotheque Nationale.
The investigators arrive at the Gare du Nord on the morning of January sixth. The Gare du Nord accommodates the trains that run between the capital and northern France, as well as to international destinations in Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. The station offers connections with several urban transport lines, including the Paris Métro.
