The dinner bell rings at seven, with three notes that sing and beckon. “Ladies and gentlemen, dinner is about to be served in the dining car,” comes the announcement over the speakers. You slip your feet into heels, apply one last spritz of perfume, slide your sleeper cabin door closed, and chase the plume of steam as the train undulates and sways side to side like a gentle rocking bough. For 24 hours, you must “trust the train,” as detective Hercule Poirot says in Agatha Christie’s novel The Mystery of the Blue Train.
“Listen, if you want to sleep, don’t come,” advises Pascal Deyrolle, general manager of the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express. Since 1977, the luxury brand Belmond has lovingly restored a historic fleet of trains running far-ranging routes—including this one, from Paris to Florence, which, for the first time ever, ends in a stay at the Belmond Villa San Michele. (A new route for 2027, which will run only once a year, includes a stop in Monaco.) This particular train has 16 resplendent gold-trimmed, sapphire-blue carriages with brass details, wood paneling, and Art Deco flourishes, and is staffed by personal stewards with double-button braided jackets and top hats. Deyrolle himself was a steward in the 1990s. “It is a time capsule, where for 24 hours you forget about the outside world and the news. You are not stuck on your device, and you look outside the windows,” he says.
Like any good stage play, there are rules for the audience. There are no TVs, and Wi-Fi exists, but the service is spotty at best, as the train travels past the French countryside and Swiss lakes. “You’ve got to think of the train as a stage, and we all have a role to play,” Deyrolle says, and guests dress accordingly, particularly for the three dining cars, which have white tablecloths, truffle butter molds, five-course meals, and Bernardaud china created exclusively for Venice Simplon-Orient-Express. For some, this means a tuxedo with tails. For others, this could be a gown. For no one, this means shorts or baseball caps, because the train reserves the right to deny entry based on attire.
The L’Observatoire suite’s lounge area and library.
“You will go to the bar before dinner; you will go to the bar after dinner,” Deyrolle adds. This won’t be very difficult, he assures me, as there is a baby grand piano and a live traveling band, and the bar won’t close until the last guest goes to bed. The final rule, which is more of a truth, is that everyone will want to do karaoke, no matter if you’re an introvert from New York City, a Rolling Stone, or a zipper magnate from the Midwest. “It doesn’t matter how famous you are, it happens with every single guest,” Deyrolle says. Keith Richards once played two songs on the piano for the train team after everyone else went to bed, which Deyrolle counts as one of his most memorable moments.
The L’Observatoire suite’s private bath.
Once the train journey ends—as it must—guests on the Paris-to-Florence route may turn from social butterflies to introspective caterpillars, as they’re whisked away in luxury cars to the mystical, serene energy of Belmond Villa San Michele, an over-600-year-old former Renaissance convent nestled in the very woodland where Leonardo da Vinci made one of his first flying attempts. The hotel, freshly renovated, is “an invitation to reconnect with yourself and with your peers,” says Sofia Peluso, its general manager. The property boasts two historic chapels: one where Franciscan friars used to meditate, now transformed into a guest room; and the new Energy Chapel, with a yoga platform and sun deck, created in collaboration with Milanese fashion brand La DoubleJ. The 18-month renovation also ensured that the villa’s 39 rooms have flora-and-fauna tapestries by local artist Elena Carozzi; green cipollino marble (with one room featuring black Portoro); and antiques like a Napoleon cabinet (he, too, once stayed on the property). “Time is invested,” Deyrolle is fond of saying, and with unhurried travel, your time has real returns.
This story appears in the November 2026 issue of ELLE.
Source: www.elle.com
