Melsea's Adventures of First Part 9b, The End..

[melsea]

31st October.. Almost there...

Having had the most delicious brunch, we ventured to the bar car which during the day is used for relaxing, we took some photos while there and another passenger ask if we wanted a photo taken of us sitting in there, this they did. While here the pianist was again playing for our enjoyment. Up by the bar we spotted the chef who was talking to the head bar man, we went over and said thank you for the most wonderful food we had so much enjoyed on this trip. He thanked us for saying so. We then both went back to our cabin where we watched the ever changing scenery. I had a bit of a nap as the pace of this journey was very fast and packed full of wonderful experiences that I was somewhat tired, could keep my eyes open, I can't help but wonder that the amount of food we have been served had made me drowsy, well that's my excuse.
We were running late and I still had no idea why. While we had been at lunch any luggage we had in our cabin was taken away so that it can be offloaded for the onward journey across the channel to our final destination, London Victoria. But first we had to arrive at Calais-Ville station which we did somewhat later than we were scheduled to do so. We arrived to rain and we were transferred to one of several luxury coaches which took us to the port of Calais, from where we would take the Euro train to the UK and then continue on the British Pullman part of the Orient Express to London Victoria. That was the plan and indeed this happened, only we were very much behind schedule and our slot on the Euro train had been missed. We had to wait what seemed like ages but they looked after us very well by providing drinks and some nibbles why we waited, wine, spirits and soft drinks were flowing very well and the atmosphere was very jolly. Our trip at this point was all in all extended and was not coming to end as quickly as we thought. Nobody was really wanting it to end. We got a slot and our coach was one of the first ones to board the train. We knew that it was almost over, well almost there was to come..

The train arrived and there was a short journey to take us to the station to board the British Pullman. As we walked into the station there was a quartet Jazz band playing it was a wonderful surprise and kept the spirit of the whole experience going. It wasn't long before we boarded the train. Just like the VSOE the carriages here too have a history of tales to be told. Our seats for this final leg were in the Cygnus Carriage. I will relay at the end what the history is of both carriages we had been allotted on both sides of the Channel.

This part of the journey would have between 3 & 5pm where afternoon tea would be served. Instead we were having afternoon at 5pm instead. The staff on both sides were exemplarily in the way they dealt with the unscheduled delay.
So onwards to more food that was our afternoon tea. A fine selection of finger sandwiches washed down with tea as well as a Balfort Brut Rosé. Lovely hot scones with cream & jam followed and finally a selection of Afternoon Tea Pastries. I can definitely say for sure we were well and truly stuffed by the time we finished our last morsel of food. The end of this momentous journey came to a halt at Platform 1, Victoria Station. All that was to do was to locate our cases, it was somewhat chaotic as our luggage had arrived a little ahead of us and it has to be said not the best of situations as there was a great deal of luggage that was both inside the Orient Express office and outside. There was no order in where our cases would be so you had to search all areas to find your luggage. It didn't take too long but it could have been dealt with better. This was the only mark down on the whole trip but everyone was in good spirits. Goodness knows what other passengers who were coming off the train on the next platform must have thought, all they could see were a lot of nicely dressed people trying to find their luggage in amongst a lot of luggage, we did get some odd looks and it must have look odd on the other side of a glass partition that separated you from the OE train and the regular trains.
Once we had located our luggage, all we had to do was to make our way to platform 2 next door to take our train home. It is at this point that it becomes a really bizarre aspect to this trip. On our way travelling to London from Folkestone we actually came passed our station and now we were making a u-turn to go home. Literally just had to go to the next platform. I had already bought our tickets before we left home at the beginning of our whole trip so that we did not have the hassle in having to try and buy tickets at this point, I knew that when we were originally supposed to have arrived here it would have been the rush hour. Not an ideal situation to be.
We finally arrived home at our station where we were picked by friends. It has to be said to said we really didn't want it to end and now it was.

As promised here are the histories of our sleeping car and the carriage on our final leg of this journey. These descriptions are displayed at the end of the carriage corridors and each carriage has a different tale to tell.

Sleeping Car 3473 on VSOE.
First class "luxe" sleeping car built 1929 by Metropolitan Cammell Carriage and Wagon Co Ltd Saltley Birmingham England. Decorated by Morrison. Train Bleu 1927-1937. Nord Express from Paris to Russian border 1937-1939, stored at Lourdes during World War II. Train Bleu 1946-1961; Simplon Orient Express 1968-1971.

Cygnus Car on British Pullman.
First Class Parlour Car, 26 seats,construction commenced 1938but completion deferred until 1951 to war. Builders were Birmingham Railway Carriage and Wagon Co. Used in the special Festival of Britain rake 1951; reserved for used by Royalty and visiting Heads of State; used in Winston Churchill's Funeral train 1965; made last journey of Golden Arrow 1972. Acquired from North Yorkshire Moors Railway 1977.

So folks I like to say thank you for reading my reports and hope it has inspired you to journey the Orient Express & try out a different cruise company, Cunard.

Also I hope you have managed to stay awake long enough to actually read my reports.

[Jan Rosser]

Mel - you really have put together a fascinating report of your journey - I felt as if I travelled with you and wished I could have tasted some of the meals you were served - they all sounded absolutely delicious thanks for taking the time to write of your experiences

When is your next trip?

[Quizzical Bob]

Thanks for taking the trouble to write all this up, Mel. Wonderful to read.

[Dancing Queen]

I've really enjoyed reading your experiences it sounds as if it was a wonderful trip.

[emjay45]

Thanks from me too Melsea, a very enjoyable read. Please tell me you put weight on eating all those delicious meals, I'm sure I would have.

[melsea]

Thank you everyone, pleased you enjoy my ramblings.

Emjay45
Yes we did put on some weight but as this was only temporary. We went back to normal very quickly in food terms.

As I said in the part 9a report the lobster was out of this world, the best ever, definitely better than P&O and Cunard by miles. We were not expecting such a big brunch.
With doubt this was the highlight of our whole trip as it was for everyone else.
This was only possible because of the travel company that put this together. Imaging Cruising, the website is http://www.imaginecruising.co.uk. It is a lot cheaper doing it through them. They put together packages like this for all over the world not just here. It's worth a look. The cost of doing just the Orient Express is the same cost as our whole trip of Cruise, 2 nights in Venice and the train. Before is the most recent trip they are selling.
http://www.imaginecruising.co.uk/cunard ... hts/c62034

[oldbluefox]

Not sure whether we will ever do the OE trip but I've really enjoyed reading your reports Melsea. Many thanks for such detailed accounts.

[melsea]

OBF

Thanks.
Not everyone can enjoy all things. There are though short day journeys on the British Pullman which is part of the Orient Express and they do all sorts of different and original themed trips.

[Susan Watt]

Would love to do it but hubby won't use shared loo and couldn't do without a shower room.

[melsea]

Susan
That's a shame. Not having the shower was a bit of a nuisance but for me and everyone else the experience of everything else far outweighed not having the shower and sharing toilets and being the one night it wasn't too bad. I wouldn't have missed it for anything. Have got to say going to the toilet was a bit of a challenge but then they always are on trains and these ones were pretty amazing and so clean.