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In collaboration with PKC Fowler - we forget who took which photos.
The building of the Louis Vuitton Foundation (previously Louis Vuitton Foundation for Creation, in French "Fondation Louis-Vuitton pour la création"), started in 2006, is an art museum and cultural center sponsored by the group LVMH and its subsidiaries. It is run as a legally separate, nonprofit entity as part of LVMH's promotion of art and culture.The $143 million museum in Paris was opened in October 2014. The building was designed by the architect Frank Gehry, and is adjacent to the Jardin d'Acclimatation in the Bois de Boulogne of the 16th arrondissement of Paris. In 2001, Bernard Arnault, the Chairman of LVMH, met Frank Gehry, and told him of plans for a new building for the Louis Vuitton Foundation for Creation on the edge of the Bois de Boulogne. The building project was first presented in 2006, with costs estimated at around €100 million ($127 million) and plans to open in late 2009 or early 2010. Suzanne Pagé, then director of the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, was named the foundation’s artistic director in charge of developing the museum's program. The city of Paris which owns the park granted a building permit in 2007. In 2011, an association for the safeguard of the Bois de Boulogne won a court battle, as the judge ruled the centre had been built too close to a tiny asphalt road deemed a public right of way. Opponents to the site had also complained that a new building would disrupt the verdant peace of the historic park. The city appealed the court decision. Renowned French architect Jean Nouvel backed Gehry and said of the objectors: "With their little tight-fitting suits, they want to put Paris in formalin. It's quite pathetic." Eventually a special law was passed by the Assemblée Nationale that the Fondation was in the national interest and “a major work of art for the whole world,” which allowed it to proceed. The museum opened to the public in October, at a reported cost of $143 million. Before the official opening, it provided the venue for Louis Vuitton’s women’s spring/summer 2015 fashion show. In May 2017, Marianne, a French news magazine, revealed the final cost of the building: €780 million, close to $900 million. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Vuitton_Foundation
#fondationlouisvuitton #louisvuitton #lvmh #paris #sylvainlandry #5d3 #5dmarkiii #canon #eos #photographe #photographer More photos / en voir plus sur : www.sylvain-landry.com
Station Haarlem 23/06/2021 12h02
The Venice Simplon Orient Express is one of the most famous luxury trains in the world. The train connects a number of European cities, such as London, Paris, Venice and Istanbul. The original 1920 carriages have been carefully restored and transport you to another time with the comforts of today. An Art Deco decor, gastronomic indulgence, live entertainment, a unique experience. On June 22, 2021, this train came from Venice to Amsterdam to return to Venice on June 24, 2021. On June 23, there was a press moment in Haarlem where the train was at the platform for a few hours.
Venice-Simplon Orient Express
The Venice Simplon-Orient-Express (VSOE) is a private luxury train service from London to Venice and other European cities. It is currently owned by Belmond, which operates 45 luxury hotels, restaurants, tourist trains and river cruises in 24 countries. It was agreed in December 2018 for the service to be acquired by LVMH in a transaction initially expected to close in the first half of 2019.
These VSOE services are not to be confused with a regularly scheduled train called the Orient Express, which ran nightly between Paris and Bucharest - in the last years of operation cut back to between Strasbourg and Vienna - until 11 December 2009. This latter was a normal EuroNight sleeper train and was the lineal descendant of the regular Orient Express daily departure from Paris to Vienna and the Balkans. While this descendant train was primarily used for every sort of passengers to Central and Eastern Europe, applying only the standard international train fares, the VSOE train is aimed at tourists looking to take a luxury train ride. Fares on the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express are high as the service is intended not as an ordinary rail service, but as a leisure event with five-star dining included.
The train was established in 1982 by James Sherwood of Kentucky, USA. In 1977 he had bought two original carriages at an auction when the Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits withdrew from the Orient Express service, passing the service on to the national railways of France, Germany, and Austria. Over the next few years, Sherwood spent a total of US$16 million purchasing 35 sleeper, restaurant and Pullman carriages. On 25 May 1982, the first London–Venice run was made.
The VSOE has separate restored carriages for use in the UK and for mainland Europe, but all of the same vintage (mostly dating from the 1920s and 1930s). Passengers are conveyed across the English Channel by coach on the Eurotunnel shuttle through the Channel Tunnel. In the UK Pullman carriages are used; in continental Europe sleeping cars and dining cars of the former Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits are used. Sleeper carriages have a range of accommodation available including Grand Suites, Cabin Suites, Twin Cabins and Single cabins.
VSOE runs services between March and November. The classical London - Paris - Milan - Venice (and return) route via the Simplon Tunnel was altered in 1984 to serve Zürich, Innsbruck and Verona through the Brenner Pass. This journey is offered once or twice a week, depending on other trips. Two or three times a year Prague or Vienna and Budapest are also accessed, starting from Venice, and returning to Paris and London. Every September the train also travels from London and Paris to Istanbul via Budapest, Sinaia and Bucharest - in the last three cities a sightseeing tour (and in the two capitals an overnight stay in a hotel) also takes place - the return trip on the same route ends in Venice.
Venice Simplon-Orient-Express at Dresden station
While the above mentioned routes are available most years, some seasons have also included unique destinations, among them Cologne, Rome, Florence, Lucerne, the High Tatras, Cracow, Dresden, Copenhagen and Stockholm. Such a journey is currently provided to Berlin.
[ Wikipedia - VSOE ]
Station Haarlem 23/06/2021 12h14
The Venice Simplon Orient Express is one of the most famous luxury trains in the world. The train connects a number of European cities, such as London, Paris, Venice and Istanbul. The original 1920 carriages have been carefully restored and transport you to another time with the comforts of today. An Art Deco decor, gastronomic indulgence, live entertainment, a unique experience. On June 22, 2021, this train came from Venice to Amsterdam to return to Venice on June 24, 2021. On June 23, there was a press moment in Haarlem where the train was at the platform for a few hours.
This part of the train is all about luxery eating and drinking.
Venice-Simplon Orient Express
The Venice Simplon-Orient-Express (VSOE) is a private luxury train service from London to Venice and other European cities. It is currently owned by Belmond, which operates 45 luxury hotels, restaurants, tourist trains and river cruises in 24 countries. It was agreed in December 2018 for the service to be acquired by LVMH in a transaction initially expected to close in the first half of 2019.
These VSOE services are not to be confused with a regularly scheduled train called the Orient Express, which ran nightly between Paris and Bucharest - in the last years of operation cut back to between Strasbourg and Vienna - until 11 December 2009. This latter was a normal EuroNight sleeper train and was the lineal descendant of the regular Orient Express daily departure from Paris to Vienna and the Balkans. While this descendant train was primarily used for every sort of passengers to Central and Eastern Europe, applying only the standard international train fares, the VSOE train is aimed at tourists looking to take a luxury train ride. Fares on the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express are high as the service is intended not as an ordinary rail service, but as a leisure event with five-star dining included.
The train was established in 1982 by James Sherwood of Kentucky, USA. In 1977 he had bought two original carriages at an auction when the Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits withdrew from the Orient Express service, passing the service on to the national railways of France, Germany, and Austria. Over the next few years, Sherwood spent a total of US$16 million purchasing 35 sleeper, restaurant and Pullman carriages. On 25 May 1982, the first London–Venice run was made.
The VSOE has separate restored carriages for use in the UK and for mainland Europe, but all of the same vintage (mostly dating from the 1920s and 1930s). Passengers are conveyed across the English Channel by coach on the Eurotunnel shuttle through the Channel Tunnel. In the UK Pullman carriages are used; in continental Europe sleeping cars and dining cars of the former Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits are used. Sleeper carriages have a range of accommodation available including Grand Suites, Cabin Suites, Twin Cabins and Single cabins.
VSOE runs services between March and November. The classical London - Paris - Milan - Venice (and return) route via the Simplon Tunnel was altered in 1984 to serve Zürich, Innsbruck and Verona through the Brenner Pass. This journey is offered once or twice a week, depending on other trips. Two or three times a year Prague or Vienna and Budapest are also accessed, starting from Venice, and returning to Paris and London. Every September the train also travels from London and Paris to Istanbul via Budapest, Sinaia and Bucharest - in the last three cities a sightseeing tour (and in the two capitals an overnight stay in a hotel) also takes place - the return trip on the same route ends in Venice.
Venice Simplon-Orient-Express at Dresden station
While the above mentioned routes are available most years, some seasons have also included unique destinations, among them Cologne, Rome, Florence, Lucerne, the High Tatras, Cracow, Dresden, Copenhagen and Stockholm. Such a journey is currently provided to Berlin.
[ Wikipedia - VSOE ]
Strobist Info: 580 a las 3 con softbox y yongnuo rebotado al techo.
TAG Heuer es un fabricante suizo de relojes de lujo, especializado en relojes deportivos y cronógrafos, con una fuerte vinculacion con el mundo de la automoción. Forma parte de la compañía de artículos de lujo LVMH, al igual que Zenith o Hublot. El lema de la compañía es "Swiss Avant-Garde Since 1860" (Vanguardia suiza desde 1860).
La compañía fue fundada en 1860 por Edouard Heuer en St-Imier, Suiza. Su primer cronógrafo fue patentado en 1882, y en 1887 Heuer patenta el "piñón oscilante", aún usado en cronógrafos mecánicos. En 1911 Heuer patenta el primer cronógrafo de a bordo para automóviles y aviación, el "Time of Trip". En 1914 presenta su primer cronógrafo de pulsera y en 1916 presenta el Micrograph, el primer cronógrafo que mediría centésimas de segundo. Las Olimpíadas de Amberes, París y Amsterdam se cronometran con instrumentos de la firma.
En 1932 presenta el "Autavia", un cronógrafo para AUTomóviles y AVIAción, que acabaría siendo una importante línea en la marca. También entre 1935 y 1940 harían cronógrafos para pilotos de la Luftwaffe, conocidos como "Flieger". Acabada la guerra, hicieron modelos con triple calendario (día, fecha y mes). En 1958 harían nuevas series de relojes de tablero, que estuvieron en producción hasta la década de los '80. También harían instrumentos para cronometrar pruebas deportivas como esquí o pruebas de motor, incluyendo Fórmula 1.
A principios de los '60, John Glenn se convierte en el tercer astronauta norteamericano, y el primero en ponerse en órbita con su cápsula Mercurio. En su muñeca, fijado con cintas, llevaba un cronógrafo sin hora de la firma. El reloj se conserva hoy en el Museo del Aire y el Espacio de San Diego.
Los relojes de la firma eran populares durante aquellos años entre corredores de automóvil, tanto profesionales como amateurs. Heuer era el líder en producción de cronógrafos y equipos de medición de tiempos. Se hicieron versiones especiales con nombres de circuitos míticos, como con logos de equipos de carreras y patrocinadores. También se adquiere la marca "Leonidas", fabricante, entre otros de cronógrafos para la fuerza aérea alemana.
263 was seen in the rain at St. Andrew Square sporting a new wrap for Glenmorangie whisky, The tram had just arrived from Edinburgh Airport and will run forward on to York Place to use the crossover to return westwards. Produced at Tain, north of Inverness, the whisky distiller is owned by the French luxury goods business, LVMH.
Créée à l’initiative de Bernard Arnault en 2006 par le groupe LVMH et ses Maisons, la Fondation Louis Vuitton s’inscrit dans le mécénat pour l’art et la culture développé par le groupe depuis plus de vingt ans. Elle a pour ambition de favoriser et de promouvoir la création artistique sur le plan national et international. Le travail de Frank Gehry pour la Fondation en constitue le geste artistique inaugural.
Empires est une installation spécialement conçue pour Monumenta 2016 par l'artiste chinois Huang Yong Ping.
L'installation traduit la vision de l'artiste vis à vis de la mondialisation actuelle (symbolisée par des containers) et du caractère éphémère des "empires" humains (bicorne de Napoléon, peu visible sur la photo mais symbole de la fragilité des empires), le tout menacé par le squelette du reptile/dragon, l'éternel mutant (toujours très présent dans son oeuvre). La transformation permanente du monde est au coeur du Taoïsme et fonde l'oeuvre de l'artiste Huang Yong Ping.
Site de Monumenta 2016
www.grandpalais.fr/fr/evenement/monumenta-2016-huang-yong...
Exposition organisée par la Réunion des musées nationaux – Grand Palais.
Commissaire : Jean de Loisy
En partenariat avec kamel mennour, Paris.
L’exposition bénéficie du concours de CMA CGM, partenaire principal, ainsi que du soutien de Gide, LVMH / Moët Hennessy . Louis Vuitton et La Vallée Village.
Avec la participation du Chinese Business Club.
Le Serpent d'Océan : oeuvre de l'artiste dans l'estuaire de la Loire
www.flickr.com/photos/dalbera/9313907702/in/album-7215763...
Modern Art Cathedral - Sous les jupes des structures du LVMH art museum - Franck Gehry - Paris - Under the skirts of the structures of the LVMH art museum
Don't use and don't link this image on websites, blogs or other media without my explicit permission. All rights reserved
Station Haarlem 23/06/2021 11h44
The Venice Simplon Orient Express is one of the most famous luxury trains in the world. The train connects a number of European cities, such as London, Paris, Venice and Istanbul. The original 1920 carriages have been carefully restored and transport you to another time with the comforts of today. An Art Deco decor, gastronomic indulgence, live entertainment, a unique experience. On June 22, 2021, this train came from Venice to Amsterdam to return to Venice on June 24, 2021. On June 23, there was a press moment in Haarlem where the train was at the platform for a few hours.
Venice-Simplon Orient Express
The Venice Simplon-Orient-Express (VSOE) is a private luxury train service from London to Venice and other European cities. It is currently owned by Belmond, which operates 45 luxury hotels, restaurants, tourist trains and river cruises in 24 countries. It was agreed in December 2018 for the service to be acquired by LVMH in a transaction initially expected to close in the first half of 2019.
These VSOE services are not to be confused with a regularly scheduled train called the Orient Express, which ran nightly between Paris and Bucharest - in the last years of operation cut back to between Strasbourg and Vienna - until 11 December 2009. This latter was a normal EuroNight sleeper train and was the lineal descendant of the regular Orient Express daily departure from Paris to Vienna and the Balkans. While this descendant train was primarily used for every sort of passengers to Central and Eastern Europe, applying only the standard international train fares, the VSOE train is aimed at tourists looking to take a luxury train ride. Fares on the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express are high as the service is intended not as an ordinary rail service, but as a leisure event with five-star dining included.
The train was established in 1982 by James Sherwood of Kentucky, USA. In 1977 he had bought two original carriages at an auction when the Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits withdrew from the Orient Express service, passing the service on to the national railways of France, Germany, and Austria. Over the next few years, Sherwood spent a total of US$16 million purchasing 35 sleeper, restaurant and Pullman carriages. On 25 May 1982, the first London–Venice run was made.
The VSOE has separate restored carriages for use in the UK and for mainland Europe, but all of the same vintage (mostly dating from the 1920s and 1930s). Passengers are conveyed across the English Channel by coach on the Eurotunnel shuttle through the Channel Tunnel. In the UK Pullman carriages are used; in continental Europe sleeping cars and dining cars of the former Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits are used. Sleeper carriages have a range of accommodation available including Grand Suites, Cabin Suites, Twin Cabins and Single cabins.
VSOE runs services between March and November. The classical London - Paris - Milan - Venice (and return) route via the Simplon Tunnel was altered in 1984 to serve Zürich, Innsbruck and Verona through the Brenner Pass. This journey is offered once or twice a week, depending on other trips. Two or three times a year Prague or Vienna and Budapest are also accessed, starting from Venice, and returning to Paris and London. Every September the train also travels from London and Paris to Istanbul via Budapest, Sinaia and Bucharest - in the last three cities a sightseeing tour (and in the two capitals an overnight stay in a hotel) also takes place - the return trip on the same route ends in Venice.
Venice Simplon-Orient-Express at Dresden station
While the above mentioned routes are available most years, some seasons have also included unique destinations, among them Cologne, Rome, Florence, Lucerne, the High Tatras, Cracow, Dresden, Copenhagen and Stockholm. Such a journey is currently provided to Berlin.
[ Wikipedia - VSOE ]
"L'observatoire de la Lumière"
Artist Daniel Buren has covered the Louis Vuitton Foundation building, a Frank Gehry design with 12 glass-paneled “sails”, with a checkerboard of translucent colored gels, punctuated by panes of white stripes. The installation runs through the end of the year.
Fondation Louis Vuitton, Bois de Boulogne, Paris
"L'observatoire de la Lumière"
Artist Daniel Buren has covered the Louis Vuitton Foundation building, a Frank Gehry design with 12 glass-paneled “sails”, with a checkerboard of translucent colored gels, punctuated by panes of white stripes. The installation runs through the end of the year.
Fondation Louis Vuitton, Bois de Boulogne, Paris
Rue de la Monnaie 25/12/2024 20h01
Rue de la Monnaie with the entrance of department store Samaritaine. Photo taken during a walk the evening of Christmas Day 2024.
Rue de la Monnaie
Rue de la Monnaie is a street in the 1st arrondissement of Paris in the quartier Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois. This 125 meters long and 13 meters wide street starts at 2, quai du Louvre et 1, rue du Pont-Neuf and ends at Rue de Rivoli.
The street owes its name to the Mint (Monnaie) which was located there from 1387 to 1776.
[ Wikipedia - Rue de la Monnaie (PARIS) ]
La Samaritaine
La Samaritaine is a large department store in the first arrondissement of Paris; the nearest metro station is Pont-Neuf. Founded in 1870 by Ernest Cognacq it is now owned by the luxury goods conglomerate LVMH.
The store was a member of the International Association of Department Stores from 1985 to 1992.
The store was closed on 15 June 2005, due to serious fire risk with the building needing urgent safety renovations. However labour unions believed it was because of a restructure of the store.
After sixteen years of closure the department store was reopened to the public in June of 2021, now also co-branded as part of DFS. The store was reopened by French President Emmanuel Macron and CEO of LVMH, Bernard Arnault. The buildings now include a Cheval Blanc hotel, nursery, offices and social housing.
As of 2024 the store is struggling to attract customers.
[ Wikipedia 2025 ]
Station Haarlem 23/06/2021 11h43
The Venice Simplon Orient Express is one of the most famous luxury trains in the world. The train connects a number of European cities, such as London, Paris, Venice and Istanbul. The original 1920 carriages have been carefully restored and transport you to another time with the comforts of today. An Art Deco decor, gastronomic indulgence, live entertainment, a unique experience. On June 22, 2021, this train came from Venice to Amsterdam to return to Venice on June 24, 2021. On June 23, there was a press moment in Haarlem where the train was at the platform for a few hours.
Venice-Simplon Orient Express
The Venice Simplon-Orient-Express (VSOE) is a private luxury train service from London to Venice and other European cities. It is currently owned by Belmond, which operates 45 luxury hotels, restaurants, tourist trains and river cruises in 24 countries. It was agreed in December 2018 for the service to be acquired by LVMH in a transaction initially expected to close in the first half of 2019.
These VSOE services are not to be confused with a regularly scheduled train called the Orient Express, which ran nightly between Paris and Bucharest - in the last years of operation cut back to between Strasbourg and Vienna - until 11 December 2009. This latter was a normal EuroNight sleeper train and was the lineal descendant of the regular Orient Express daily departure from Paris to Vienna and the Balkans. While this descendant train was primarily used for every sort of passengers to Central and Eastern Europe, applying only the standard international train fares, the VSOE train is aimed at tourists looking to take a luxury train ride. Fares on the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express are high as the service is intended not as an ordinary rail service, but as a leisure event with five-star dining included.
The train was established in 1982 by James Sherwood of Kentucky, USA. In 1977 he had bought two original carriages at an auction when the Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits withdrew from the Orient Express service, passing the service on to the national railways of France, Germany, and Austria. Over the next few years, Sherwood spent a total of US$16 million purchasing 35 sleeper, restaurant and Pullman carriages. On 25 May 1982, the first London–Venice run was made.
The VSOE has separate restored carriages for use in the UK and for mainland Europe, but all of the same vintage (mostly dating from the 1920s and 1930s). Passengers are conveyed across the English Channel by coach on the Eurotunnel shuttle through the Channel Tunnel. In the UK Pullman carriages are used; in continental Europe sleeping cars and dining cars of the former Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits are used. Sleeper carriages have a range of accommodation available including Grand Suites, Cabin Suites, Twin Cabins and Single cabins.
VSOE runs services between March and November. The classical London - Paris - Milan - Venice (and return) route via the Simplon Tunnel was altered in 1984 to serve Zürich, Innsbruck and Verona through the Brenner Pass. This journey is offered once or twice a week, depending on other trips. Two or three times a year Prague or Vienna and Budapest are also accessed, starting from Venice, and returning to Paris and London. Every September the train also travels from London and Paris to Istanbul via Budapest, Sinaia and Bucharest - in the last three cities a sightseeing tour (and in the two capitals an overnight stay in a hotel) also takes place - the return trip on the same route ends in Venice.
Venice Simplon-Orient-Express at Dresden station
While the above mentioned routes are available most years, some seasons have also included unique destinations, among them Cologne, Rome, Florence, Lucerne, the High Tatras, Cracow, Dresden, Copenhagen and Stockholm. Such a journey is currently provided to Berlin.
[ Wikipedia - VSOE ]
"L'observatoire de la Lumière"
Artist Daniel Buren has covered the Louis Vuitton Foundation building, a Frank Gehry design with 12 glass-paneled “sails”, with a checkerboard of translucent colored gels, punctuated by panes of white stripes. The installation runs through the end of the year.
Fondation Louis Vuitton, Bois de Boulogne, Paris
"La Fondation d'entreprise Louis Vuitton, anciennement Fondation d'entreprise Louis Vuitton pour la création, lancée en octobre 2006, a été créée par le groupe LVMH et ses maisons. Elle a pour objectif de promouvoir l’art et la culture et de pérenniser les actions de mécénat engagées depuis 1990 par le groupe.
Le bâtiment, conçu par l'architecte Frank Gehry, est situé au Jardin d'acclimatation, dans le bois de Boulogne. L'inauguration a eu lieu le 20 octobre 2014."
fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fondation_d'entreprise_Louis_Vuitton
"The building of the Louis Vuitton Foundation (previously Louis Vuitton Foundation for Creation, in French "Fondation Louis-Vuitton pour la création"), started in 2006, is an art museum and cultural center sponsored by the group LVMH and its subsidiaries but run as a legally separate, nonprofit entity as part of its promotion of art and culture.
The $143 million museum in Paris has recently been completed and is opened in October 2014. The new building was designed by the architect Frank Gehry, and is adjacent to the Jardin d'Acclimatation in the Bois de Boulogne of the 16th arrondissement of Paris."
Former Dassault Aviation & LVMH Services F-GVDP, The Flying Bulls & Tyrolean Jet Service OE-IDM. Departing to Ibiza, Spain,
Station Haarlem 23/06/2021 12h48
The Venice Simplon Orient Express is one of the most famous luxury trains in the world. The train connects a number of European cities, such as London, Paris, Venice and Istanbul. The original 1920 carriages have been carefully restored and transport you to another time with the comforts of today. An Art Deco decor, gastronomic indulgence, live entertainment, a unique experience. On June 22, 2021, this train came from Venice to Amsterdam to return to Venice on June 24, 2021. On June 23, there was a press moment in Haarlem where the train was at the platform for a few hours.
Venice-Simplon Orient Express
The Venice Simplon-Orient-Express (VSOE) is a private luxury train service from London to Venice and other European cities. It is currently owned by Belmond, which operates 45 luxury hotels, restaurants, tourist trains and river cruises in 24 countries. It was agreed in December 2018 for the service to be acquired by LVMH in a transaction initially expected to close in the first half of 2019.
These VSOE services are not to be confused with a regularly scheduled train called the Orient Express, which ran nightly between Paris and Bucharest - in the last years of operation cut back to between Strasbourg and Vienna - until 11 December 2009. This latter was a normal EuroNight sleeper train and was the lineal descendant of the regular Orient Express daily departure from Paris to Vienna and the Balkans. While this descendant train was primarily used for every sort of passengers to Central and Eastern Europe, applying only the standard international train fares, the VSOE train is aimed at tourists looking to take a luxury train ride. Fares on the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express are high as the service is intended not as an ordinary rail service, but as a leisure event with five-star dining included.
The train was established in 1982 by James Sherwood of Kentucky, USA. In 1977 he had bought two original carriages at an auction when the Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits withdrew from the Orient Express service, passing the service on to the national railways of France, Germany, and Austria. Over the next few years, Sherwood spent a total of US$16 million purchasing 35 sleeper, restaurant and Pullman carriages. On 25 May 1982, the first London–Venice run was made.
The VSOE has separate restored carriages for use in the UK and for mainland Europe, but all of the same vintage (mostly dating from the 1920s and 1930s). Passengers are conveyed across the English Channel by coach on the Eurotunnel shuttle through the Channel Tunnel. In the UK Pullman carriages are used; in continental Europe sleeping cars and dining cars of the former Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits are used. Sleeper carriages have a range of accommodation available including Grand Suites, Cabin Suites, Twin Cabins and Single cabins.
VSOE runs services between March and November. The classical London - Paris - Milan - Venice (and return) route via the Simplon Tunnel was altered in 1984 to serve Zürich, Innsbruck and Verona through the Brenner Pass. This journey is offered once or twice a week, depending on other trips. Two or three times a year Prague or Vienna and Budapest are also accessed, starting from Venice, and returning to Paris and London. Every September the train also travels from London and Paris to Istanbul via Budapest, Sinaia and Bucharest - in the last three cities a sightseeing tour (and in the two capitals an overnight stay in a hotel) also takes place - the return trip on the same route ends in Venice.
Venice Simplon-Orient-Express at Dresden station
While the above mentioned routes are available most years, some seasons have also included unique destinations, among them Cologne, Rome, Florence, Lucerne, the High Tatras, Cracow, Dresden, Copenhagen and Stockholm. Such a journey is currently provided to Berlin.
[ Wikipedia - VSOE ]
A champagne tasting at a visit to the prominent champagne house Moët & Chandon in the town of Épernay, Grand Est (Champagne), France
Some background information:
Moët & Chandon, also known simply as Moët, is a prominent French champagne house and as such one of the world's largest champagne producers. It is also the co-owner of the luxury goods company LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE. Moët et Chandon was established in 1743 by Claude Moët, and today owns 1,190 hectares (2,900 acres) of vineyards. It produces approximately 28 million bottles of champagne per year.
Moët has two different brands of champagne: "Moët & Chandon" and "Dom Perignon". The headquarters, production facilities and cellars of the company are all situated in the town of Épernay in the west of the French department of Marne. In 1959, Chandon founded an outpost winery in Argentina. In 1973, two more outpost wineries were established in Brasil and in the Napa Valley. The latter was the first French-owned sparkling wine venture in the United States. In 1986, another outpost was started in Australia, and in 2013 and 2014, outpost wineries were also established in China and India.
In 1743, Épernay wine trader Claude Moët founded the winery as Moët et Cie (in English: "Moët & Co."). He began shipping his wine from the Champagne region to Paris, where the reign of King Louis XV coincided with an increased demand for sparkling wine. Soon after its foundation, and after son Claude-Louis had joined Moët et Cie, the winery's clientele already included many nobles and aristocrats. After Claude-Louis Moët’s son Jean-Remy had taken the company’s lead in 1792, the winery was visited regularly by Napoleon Bonaparte, whom he had met in Paris several years before, when Napoleon was still a lieutenant-colonel. Napoleon became Jean-Remy’s close friend, whom he provided with lots of champagne. Recorded are Napoleon’s words: "Champagne! After a victory you deserve it. And after a defeat you need it."
In 1833, the company was renamed Moët & Chandon after Pierre-Gabriel Chandon de Briailles, Remy Moët's son-in-law, had joined the company as a partner of Jean-Remy Moët. Following the introduction of the concept of a vintage champagne in 1840, Moët marketed its first vintage in 1842. The company’s best-selling champagne, Brut Imperial, was introduced in the 1860s. In 1927, Moët & Chandon acquired the brand Dom Perignon from Champagne Mercier.
The brand is named after Dom Pierre Pérignon, a Benedictine monk who was an important quality pioneer for Champagne wine but who, contrary to popular myths, did not discover the champagne method for making sparkling wines. Dom Pérignon was the first prestige cuvée, an idea proposed by Englishman Laurence Venn. The first vintage of Dom Pérignon was 1921 and was only released for sale in 1936. Vintage means that it is only made in the best years, and all grapes used to make the vintage are harvested in the same year. Many champagnes, by contrast, are non-vintage, meaning that they are made from grapes harvested in various years.
In 1971, Moët & Chandon merged with Hennessy Cognac. In 1987, there was another merger, but this time with the luxury fashion house Louis Vuitton. Following the merger, the new umbrella company LVMH (Louis-Vuitton-Moët-Hennessy) was founded, which is still the largest luxury group in the world. In 2006, Moët et Chandon Brut Impérial issued an extremely limited bottling of its champagne named "Be Fabulous", a special release of its original bottle with decorative Swarovski crystals, marking the elegance of Moët et Chandon. Finally, it is also worth mentioning that Moët & Chandon was holding the royal warrant as supplier of champagne to Queen Elizabeth II.
The town of Épernay is located in the French Grand Est region, about 130 km (81 miles) north-east of Paris on the mainline railway to Strasbourg. It has more than 22,300 residents. The town sits on the left bank of the Marne at the extremity of the Cubry valley which crosses it. Épernay belonged to the archbishops of Reims from the 5th until the 10th century, when it came into the possession of the counts of Champagne. It was badly damaged during the Hundred Years' War, and was burned by King Francis I in 1544. In 1592, it resisted Henry of Navarre and his troops. In 1642 it was, along with Château-Thierry, named as a duchy and assigned to the Duke of Bouillon.
Épernay is best known as the principal "entrepôt" for champagne wines, which are bottled and kept in large cellars built into the chalk rock on which the town is built. The major grape varieties used in champagne are the pinot noir, pinot meunier and chardonnay. But the production of the equipment and raw materials used in the champagne industry is also a major source of local employment.
Many larger and smaller champagne houses have their headquarters in Épernay. That’s why the town is often named "the capital of champagne". A lot of them reside in noble mansions or villas alongside Epernay’s Avenue de Champagne, which is hence often called "the most valueable street of the world". The cellars of these champagne houses are right beneath the street and the champagne houses by its side. Merely the cellar tunnels of Moët & Chandon have a total length of 110 km (68 miles). Hence, one can imagine that the chalky soil, on which Épernay is built, is hollowed like Emmentaler cheese. Apart from Moët & Chandon with its second brand Dom Perignon, champagne houses in Épernay include Mercier, De Castellane, Boizel, Charles Mignon, Château Comtesse Lafond, A. Bergère, Pol Roger, Collard-Picard, Janisson-Baradon, Esterlin and Perrier-Jouet, to name just a few.
In 2015, the whole Champagne area was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was named "Champagne Hillsides, Houses and Cellars" and was admitted into the World Heritage List for being the site, where the method of producing sparkling wines was developed.