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Around the World in 80 Days
Day 1: 25 September
Down below, the Orient Express passengers are impatient to party. They so want to have a good time, and the expensive hours are ticking away and the luxury they were promised is not to be found on the Horsa or in the passageways of Boulogne's dockside. But spirits rise once they reach the platform of Boulogne station at which stand a dozen coaches sporting the navy-blue livery and solid brass letters of the Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits et des Grands Express Europeens. I am billeted in sleeping car 3544, built in 1929, decorated in 'Sapelli Pearl' inlay by René Prou and having been, in the course of a long and distinguished career, a brothel for German officers and part of the Dutch royal train. My cabin is small but perfectly formed, sheathed in veneered mahogany inlaid with Art-Deco panels. From this luxury cocoon I watch grey, seagull-ridden Boulogne slipping away and when its drab suburbs have gone, I turn once more to make-believe, and begin unpacking my dinner jacket.
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PALIN'S GUIDES
- Series: Around the World in 80 Days
- Day: 1
- Date: 25 September
- Country/sea: France
- Place: Boulogne
- Book page no: 18
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RELATED LINKS
- France
- Chapter 3: Paris
- Hemingway Adventure
- Paris, France (first day)
- Hemingway Adventure
- Paris, France (second day)
- Hemingway Adventure
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