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Short filmTranscript
00:00For over a hundred years, the Orient Express, the world's most iconic train, crossed Europe.
00:13If you were to be travelling on the Orient Express in its golden age, this is the kind of carriage you would be travelling on.
00:21Until it's withdrawn, the train tied Europe together.
00:26Prince Ferdinand was quoted in saying that the Orient Express is of vital interest to us.
00:31A service famed for its glamour and luxury.
00:35This space was for the creme de la creme, the best of the best.
00:39That became world famous.
00:42The Cold War made the Orient Express the hotbed of spice.
00:47And whose legacy is still felt.
00:50Let's say 150 years ago you came here with the Orient Express.
00:53You would have seen exactly the same mosque of today.
00:59In this series, we'll take a 2,000-mile journey across Europe.
01:06It's always a very exciting moment when we are doing a route for the first time.
01:11And follow a new luxury train as it retraces the fabled route.
01:16Exploring the history of a golden age of train travel along the way.
01:21During the railway golden age, passengers could buy a ticket that would take them from London all the way to Istanbul, the gateway to the east.
01:39Orient Express passengers caught a connecting boat train to the south coast of England.
01:49Before crossing the channel by ferry to northern France and onwards to Paris.
01:53There, they'd join the iconic train and travel through Munich, Vienna and Budapest.
02:02Before arriving at its final destination, Istanbul.
02:06On the first part of the journey between London and Paris, the height of luxury.
02:17People who were spending quite a bit of money to be on the Orient Express.
02:21This is the experience that they want.
02:25The cutting edge of cool.
02:26People who were travelling with the Orient Express had to just have a look at what was the most modern part of the world.
02:38And a night passengers would never forget.
02:42For the passengers of the Orient Express, the Moulin Rouge really was a must-do.
02:47It was at that time already the most famous cabaret in the world.
02:51Interwar London was a wealthy imperial capital and by the 1920s, the largest city in the world.
03:08The wealthy and influential expected the height of sophistication and train companies did not disappoint.
03:17The Orient Express never called at London directly.
03:21But passengers from the city boarded a boat train that connected with the Orient Express in France.
03:29Passengers boarded here, at Victoria Station.
03:33It's such an impressive station.
03:35Victoria Station, the gateway to the continent.
03:38And here we have beautiful Portland stone and its beautiful baroque design.
03:44Hazel Baker is a historian and tour guide who has a deep love for this station.
03:49We have four mermaid caryatids.
03:53Here they are holding up the station themselves, also with boat trains under their arms.
04:00In the middle we have a beautiful festoon here, shrouded with the cornucopia, horns of plenty,
04:08filled with beautiful fruits and then really exotic flowers.
04:11And on top of all these beautiful festoons is the crown, reminding us, Victoria Station is named after Queen Victoria.
04:20Opened in the 1860s, the station was originally run by two companies, who were arch rivals.
04:26Here are the Southern Railways, and then we've got the Brighton Line on the other side.
04:33Two separate stations, one next to each other, competing for that attention.
04:39A huge wall was built down the middle to make sure that passengers didn't accidentally stray onto their rivals' platforms.
04:46It wasn't until 1923, the two stations were finally united.
04:55And here the archway would have said, the gateway to the continent.
05:00If I'd been standing here, getting on the Orient Express, I think I would have felt real excitement.
05:10You would have smelt the steam and the coal.
05:13You would have felt the vibrations around you.
05:15You would have seen all the porters busily carrying everybody else's luggage as well.
05:20Everybody in their finest attire, eager to look their best and start their adventure towards the continent.
05:26Victoria Station had everything you might need, even a bank.
05:33Of course, you need your traveller's cheques, you need your foreign money.
05:37And here at Victoria Station, you were able to do all your banking requirements.
05:42This was the second bank ever to be built on a railway platform.
05:49So this here is the night safe.
05:51So this is where people will be able to deposit their money quite safely whilst the bank is closed.
05:57So you slide that back and then you'll be able to put your deposit in there nice and safe.
06:01Right here, there used to be the departures board.
06:05All manually changed.
06:06All the different destinations.
06:08You had Vienna, Brussels, over 400 destinations from this station alone.
06:14Really quite remarkable.
06:15And you also had a map of Europe, so you could see exactly how far across the continent we were able to get to from right here.
06:25The station was rebuilt in the 1980s and 1990s, sweeping away a lot of its original grandeur.
06:33But it's still there if you know where to look.
06:36This hotel opened in 1862.
06:43It was supposed to be the greatest hotel to be built at the time.
06:47And if you look at it, you can tell.
06:49We've got these fierce, majestic lions looking down at us.
06:53And also, there are two familiar faces.
06:55We have Queen Victoria and Albert, Prince Consort.
06:59I think we're in good company.
07:00Originally named the Grosvenor, this Grade II listed hotel was designed to impress.
07:18Wow, this is gorgeous.
07:23The chandelier would have been gaslit, of course, so extra sparkle there.
07:30And all of this gold is actually real gold, exquisite.
07:39During its most recent restoration, the columns were re-guilded and the original white marble pillars brought back to their former glory.
07:48You know you've made it when you've been here.
07:49I love this place.
08:01This was the first-class waiting room.
08:04Look at it, the size of it.
08:05I love it.
08:06I came here and I want to feel a little bit bougie, have a nice cocktail and soak in that atmosphere.
08:13This space was for the creme de la creme, the best of the best.
08:16There's something quite special also about being able to see the concourse through these huge glass windows.
08:24And you're up above it all, above all the normal hopoloi on the streets.
08:29You're able to see your train, you'll be able to see all the porters,
08:32you'll be able to see maybe your maid sitting on a bench waiting to get onto the third-class train as well.
08:39You're above it all and you can relax before your journey begins.
08:42A hundred years ago, sitting at this bar, it would have been filled with smoke for a start.
08:50And that's not from the train stations, that's from the pipes and the cigars that you could also buy here.
08:55You'd have seen celebrities here, you'd have seen foreign secretaries here,
09:01all waiting to get on the first-class carriage of their train.
09:05And there would have been a quiet ambience, I think, rather than the hustle and bustle from the concourse.
09:11And when it was time to leave, you'd use your very own private exit
09:15and you'd probably be escorted across the concourse onto your luxury train.
09:21The days of opulent transcontinental trains may have passed here at Victoria.
09:26But on special occasions, you can still relive the golden years.
09:36On this, the Sussex Bell, a steam-hauled heritage train service that goes to the south coast,
09:43like the boat trains of old.
09:45And like today, those passengers would have been excited to have started their adventure.
10:15A hundred years ago, with London fading into the distance,
10:33passengers' 2,000-mile journey to Istanbul on a luxury train service had begun.
10:39The first section of the journey was the 77 miles from London to Folkestone on a connecting boat train.
10:48There, passengers would disembark and catch a steamship to France.
10:53Wealthy passengers connecting to the Orient Express in France
10:56would take a boat train, such as the Golden Arrow.
11:01This first-class-only service offered effortless luxury,
11:04with an on-board bar and dining car and luggage checked through to your final destination.
11:13The trains were a popular haunt for dignitaries and film stars.
11:19But it was an altogether less flashy passenger
11:22who would make the Orient Express infamous, Agatha Christie.
11:27So, Agatha Christie is the world's best-selling author.
11:31She's only outsold by the Bible and Shakespeare.
11:33And her novel, Murder on the Orient Express,
11:38is still as popular today as it was when it was first released.
11:42Tina Hodgkinson is a guide and Agatha Christie historian
11:46who has researched the real-life inspiration behind her novels.
11:51One of the worst periods of Agatha's life was the late 1920s,
11:56when her mother died and she got divorced.
11:58So, she decides to book a holiday and she's going to go off to the Caribbean.
12:02However, two days before she's due to sail,
12:06she goes to a dinner party and amongst her friends is a naval officer.
12:11And what he tells her story is of the wonderful treasures that are coming out from Nassar Petonia.
12:19And Agatha is enthralled by this.
12:23So much so that the next morning she basically changes her plans.
12:27She's going to travel on the Orient Express to have a look at the artifacts that have been found.
12:32And Agatha had seen the Orient Express when she was a child.
12:38It was on her wish list.
12:39That was something she really wanted to do.
12:42The archaeologist Leonard Woolley was excavating the ancient city of Ur in modern-day Iraq.
12:49A key member of his team was his assistant, Max Malewan.
12:53And when Agatha arrived, Max was tasked with a job with showing her around.
13:01Agatha, at the end of the trip, was due to go and do some traveling.
13:07However, she gets a message that her daughter Rosalind is seriously ill.
13:12And what she decides to do is go back on the Orient Express.
13:19Max decides to travel with her.
13:22And he supports her through that anxiety.
13:25Because we're talking about a trip that will take four, five, six days to get back.
13:31And all that time she's worried about the welfare of her daughter.
13:34And really, for me, that really cements the relationship.
13:38That's when she knew he was a keeper.
13:40Christy's daughter recovered.
13:43And over the next ten years, she and Malewan travelled frequently on the Orient Express.
13:49It was the inspiration behind her most famous novel,
13:53featuring the detective Hercule Poirot, who is also a passenger on the train.
13:59Poirot retires to bed in the evening,
14:02only to wake up the next morning to find that one of the neighboring compartments,
14:08a businessman called Ratchet has been murdered.
14:13His bedroom door is locked.
14:16The window is open.
14:19And there's been a snowstorm during the night.
14:24They can't progress any further.
14:27But there are no footprints in the snow.
14:29And it's for Poirot to investigate.
14:31The incident was based on a real-life episode.
14:35In 1929, the Orient Express was just outside Istanbul when it got caught in an enormous snowdrift.
14:43It had been a terrible winter and their train was stuck in the snow for several days.
14:51Agatha had her own trapped in the Orient Express story as well.
14:56There were floods which wiped away some of the railway track.
15:01And she was stuck on the Orient Express for two days.
15:06And while she was on the train, she made observations.
15:09And what she captured was the other guests, how they behaved, how they responded, what they were like.
15:19And they would help to create the characters that would appear in the novel.
15:25Even today, over 90 years since Murder on the Orient Express was first published,
15:31it is still the most famous novel about a train ever written.
15:3570 miles from London, the boat train approached the south coast of England
15:43and, for its passengers, the final stretch of their journey on British soil.
15:52Today, trains stop at Folkestone Central Station,
15:55but passengers bound for the Orient Express would have headed straight towards the harbour.
16:00On tracks that are long abandoned and visible only from above.
16:07This steep, one-mile branch line took passengers down from the main line to Folkestone Harbour.
16:14Initially built for freight, it soon started to transport passengers heading to the continent.
16:22So if you were stood here 100 years ago, this is a really busy, bustling port.
16:28There's a lot of freight coming in, there's a lot of coal going out.
16:32We've got big ships, we've got small ships, the fishing fleet.
16:36But we've also got the passenger lines coming through, direct from London.
16:40It's the first rail-sea rail link in the world that actually takes you from one country to another.
16:48And it comes down the viaduct, which we're standing on now.
16:53So this line really made Folkestone special.
16:56Helen Sharp is a journalist and broadcaster who writes about Folkestone and its past.
17:03Coming down the viaduct on two lines would be steam trains going back and forth from the harbour.
17:10And behind us is one of the steepest inclines up to Folkestone Junction.
17:14It's a 1 in 30 gradient, so that's for every 30 feet you go horizontally, you're dropping one foot at a time.
17:22And so it was a real effort to get the trains going back up to Folkestone Junction to meet the line that goes to London.
17:29People talk about watching two steam engines at the front of the train, pulling it up the hill, with another steam engine behind, pushing it up in order to get it back up that steep incline.
17:42So it takes a lot of effort.
17:45In the 1850s, the very first rail-sea rail service from London to Paris passed through Folkestone Harbour, taking around 12 and a half hours to complete.
17:56Here is the first time that you do get off the train.
18:04You're entering into Folkestone Harbour Station.
18:06The train is slowing down, and this is where you're going to get off, and you're going to go all of it undercover so that you don't have to brave the elements.
18:14And it would have been around about here that there would have been double doors which would take you through,
18:19and so that you can complete the last bits of your boarding before you get onto the ferry.
18:23It's absolutely the height of luxury because you've got people who are spending quite a bit of money.
18:30This is the experience that they want.
18:33So you would have walked through from the waiting room, totally undercover, out onto what is now what we call the harbour arm.
18:42It was called the pier, and so here we've got an example of where the boats would have been tied up on these mooring kidneys.
18:53And I reckon that first step onto the boat, which is going to rock gently with the lull of the water,
19:00is that moment where you know you're leaving the UK and you're really set on your adventure right the way across the sea and onto the continent.
19:11So if you are on the most luxurious train in the world, then your ferry has really got to come up to those standards as well.
19:20What was a ferry that would have had maximum capacity of 1,700 passengers,
19:26but when you've got the Orient Express on there, then you are catering for about 400 people,
19:32and so therefore you've got space to move around.
19:34In 1936, a new service launched, the Night Ferry, which left from Dover.
19:41Operated by the same company that ran the Orient Express,
19:45its first-class carriages were shunted onto rail ferries,
19:49which sailed across the Channel, while its passengers slept.
19:53Some heading for the Orient Express swapped to this more luxurious and quicker service.
19:59Dover becomes far more viable.
20:01It's got a floating dock so that the trains can actually roll straight onto the ferry.
20:05You don't have to get off your train anymore.
20:08Almost 60 years later, train travel between England and mainland Europe was revolutionised even further by the Channel Tunnel.
20:18A £4.65 billion project between Folkestone and Calais that took six years to complete.
20:24The idea of a rail link beneath the Channel dates back to the 19th century,
20:29when Britain and France first began digging.
20:34Tunnelling the English Channel, by the silent film pioneer Georges Mellier, was first shown in 1907.
20:41It shows the ambition behind one of the most complex engineering challenges of the time,
20:49connecting Britain and France via an underwater tunnel,
20:53an idea that would take almost a century to realise.
20:56It wasn't until 1986 that construction was finally approved,
21:04long after the golden age of luxury train travel had passed.
21:08In fact, the day the Channel Tunnel opened was the day that the boat train stopped to Dover and Folkestone.
21:14Today, the historic station and harbour have been repurposed into a vibrant cultural and leisure space.
21:22Having opened it as an entertainment site, as a visitor destination,
21:26with food and drink opportunities,
21:28with a marketplace which has got creative artisans in there selling their wares,
21:33when it comes to summer it really is a hive of activity.
21:37When Folkestone harbour is alive, it really is the beating heart of the town.
21:44Three and three-quarter hours after leaving London,
21:59passengers would step off their steamer onto northern France.
22:09In the 1920s, Waggon-Li, the company that ran the Orient Express,
22:14had a luxury train network that stretched across three continents.
22:20At the core of this network were their multiple Orient Express services.
22:26After crossing the Channel by ferry,
22:29passengers from London would have connected to an onward service in Calais
22:32or headed south, towards Paris,
22:36to experience the City of Light for an evening
22:38before continuing their journey on the Orient Express.
22:41The next 185 miles followed the Longue-Boulogne line.
22:49Built between the 1840s and the 1860s,
22:53it was the main route for trains steaming towards the French capital.
23:01The Orient Express carried travellers from all walks of life,
23:05and despite the beautiful views,
23:07some of them carried ugly secrets.
23:13One man used the service so often
23:15that Compartment 7 was reserved for him alone.
23:20A man who became known as the Merchant of Death.
23:24Basil Zaharoff is one of the most enigmatic persons from the 20th century.
23:31There's very little that we know about him.
23:33He burned all of his papers towards the end of his life.
23:36Johann Lardier is a guide and historian
23:38who has long been fascinated by Zaharoff.
23:42He was one of the wealthiest persons in Europe,
23:44one of the most hated also,
23:46and that he boarded the Orient Express in 1885
23:50and changed his life entirely.
23:53Born into poverty in what is now Istanbul,
23:56Zaharoff did odd jobs across Europe
23:58before he began working for an arms manufacturer.
24:03Zaharoff was tasked to sell submarines,
24:05and nobody wanted them.
24:07So he started with Greece, where he sold them cheap.
24:09Then he jumped on the Orient Express
24:11and went to the Turks and said,
24:12Look, the Greek, they have submarines.
24:16So they bought submarines, but this time for the full price.
24:19He then persuaded the Russians
24:20that the Turks knew submarines posed a threat to their interests.
24:25And the Russians that were not interested in the first place
24:27started to buy submarines.
24:30A good scheme for a man like him.
24:32And he became extremely wealthy thanks to that.
24:34And now meet the big shot himself,
24:36Sir Basil Zaharoff, mystery man of Europe,
24:39maker of kings and the greatest munitions salesman ever known.
24:42Zaharoff used the Orient Express to crisscross Europe,
24:46selling arms to countries in the Near and Middle East.
24:50He became one of the best customers of the Orient Express,
24:53to the point that they reserved a compartment just for him,
24:56compartment number seven.
24:58During World War I, he sold machine guns,
25:01Maxime machine guns,
25:03and he sold them to both sides,
25:05to French, to the Germans.
25:06And it's been said that for every dead person,
25:09he received one pound of gold.
25:12There were 10 million people dead during World War I.
25:15That made him the wealthiest person in Europe,
25:17but definitely the most hated.
25:19Of Zaharoff, it has been said
25:21that the tombstones of millions killed by the munitions he sold
25:24will form his monument,
25:26and their dying groans shall be his epitaph.
25:28Zaharoff owned properties across Europe and beyond,
25:32but none is more mysterious than this,
25:35the Chateau de Balincourt, 40 miles from Paris.
25:40Built around 1780,
25:42its original owners were guillotined during the French Revolution.
25:45It was later owned by King Leopold II of Belgium.
25:54He grew rich on the back of colonial exploitation of the Congo.
25:59He was also a proud sponsor of the Orient Express from its inception.
26:06King Leopold II had bought that castle for his mistress,
26:09and she was the owner of this place,
26:11and all his illegitimate children were living here also.
26:14Zaharoff bought the house from him for one million francs,
26:17then cut himself off from the world.
26:23And when you're the most hated person in Europe,
26:26of course you're going to think about security.
26:29And, oh, actually, if you're this way,
26:31you can see how high the wall goes.
26:35So the whole estate is completely walled up,
26:38and we can't see anything from the outside.
26:41When everybody wants you dead in Europe,
26:44when you've been responsible for so many dead people
26:46during World War I and all the other walls in Europe at the time,
26:50there's nothing around us except this chunky wall here
26:54that's at least three meters high.
26:56Oh, here you can see better, actually.
26:59You can see how high it goes.
27:01It's actually quite thick as well.
27:04It's been there quite a while,
27:05so you have all this grove on it,
27:07and you can see here the columns on each side,
27:09how they build it, to put those stones in the middle,
27:11and then you get the columns to support it.
27:13So really, it's a very strong wall,
27:15so it was very well protected.
27:17There's an archway right there.
27:19Yeah, here you can clearly see the difference between the colouring.
27:22Like the stone here at the very bottom,
27:25that's the original archway.
27:29That must have been built during the 18th century
27:31when the castle inside was built.
27:33The arch was decorated with fleur-de-lis,
27:36a powerful and enduring symbol of the French monarchy.
27:40As if it was not enough, you had to add even more luxury,
27:43and that's why we have those statues on top
27:46that this royal arch was not enough.
27:48So you can see at the bottom,
27:50that looks like it's been there since 1780
27:52at the construction of the castle,
27:54and then the statues up there have a different colouring
27:57really proving that they've been added by Zaharoff afterwards.
28:00There is a story that Zaharoff, who, remember, came from nothing,
28:05actually bought the bed of the most famous king in France,
28:09Louis XIV, the Saint King, le Roi Soleil,
28:11and allegedly that bed is here in this castle.
28:14Is it still there? We don't know.
28:16Today, the chateau is still owned by his descendants.
28:21This is what we have, just a glimpse.
28:23Because that's the closest we're ever going to get,
28:24nobody's allowed inside,
28:26so a lot of mystery around this person.
28:27It was on this estate in 1924
28:31that Zaharoff married the love of his life,
28:35the Duchess de Villafranca.
28:37They met unexpectedly on the Orient Express
28:40when she was married to her first husband.
28:44At 2.32am, someone bangs on the door,
28:47and there's this woman, semi-naked, covered in blood,
28:50trying to escape her husband,
28:52who, out of a fit of madness, tried to kill her.
28:55This moment would be the start of a love story
28:57that would carry on for 38 years.
29:01This woman was very pious,
29:02so she would not divorce her husband.
29:04And when he died, she finally married Zaharoff.
29:07After they got married,
29:09they moved here to Balancourt,
29:10and they lived here only for a very short period of time,
29:1318 months,
29:14because she died of an infection
29:15that left Zaharoff completely heartbroken.
29:19And two days after her funeral,
29:21he took the Orient Express for the very last time.
29:25He asked a bodyguard that after his death,
29:28he was to bring a photo of him and his wife,
29:30a photo that Zaharoff always carried,
29:32to compartment 7 of the Orient Express.
29:35And at 2.32am, on the dot,
29:40the bodyguard would have to shred and throw through the window
29:43as a last romantic gesture,
29:45showing that his whole life started and ended in the Orient Express.
29:57Around seven hours after leaving London,
30:00Orient Express passengers finally arrived in Paris.
30:03Here, at Gare du Nord, Europe's busiest station,
30:13this neoclassical monument to the railway,
30:15built in the 1860s,
30:17was designed to impress.
30:23Its 23 statues represented major cities served by the railway.
30:28And its soaring iron columns were cast in Scotland,
30:35the only country with forges big enough.
30:43Then, as now,
30:45the station offered an unforgettable welcome to the French capital.
30:50Orient Express passengers with just a night in Paris
30:53would have been keen to enjoy the city at its most vibrant
30:56before connecting to the legendary train.
31:00Here, we are probably in the most exciting district,
31:04in the most exciting city in the world.
31:07Elsa Noel Gaynor is a tour guide and historian,
31:11and expert on early 20th century Paris.
31:13To fully appreciate Paris in the 1920s,
31:19you need to consider the trauma of the First World War
31:22and how artists were searching for new forms of expression
31:25and a deliberate break from the past.
31:31Paris was at the centre of it all.
31:33People wanted hope to create a new society,
31:38so everywhere in the city there were artists
31:41who were enjoying the fact that we were in peace,
31:44finally, after years of war.
31:47And here we are in Montparnasse,
31:49probably the most exciting district of the 1920s.
31:55Montparnasse was a magnet for artists, writers and models
31:59who were drawn to the area's vitality
32:01and its cheap rents.
32:04Here we are in front of one of the most iconic workshops
32:08of Montparnasse.
32:10And here you can see three remaining workshops.
32:13The one just behind me was used by Haim Soutine,
32:17the famous painter who arrived there in the 1910th.
32:22These studios were basic,
32:24with no running water or electricity,
32:26but they were all the artists could afford.
32:29Most of these workshops
32:30were also made of two parts.
32:33The main room was made to work, to live,
32:37and you had a sort of little mezzanine.
32:40If you were not able to afford a house,
32:42you could live in this little mezzanine,
32:45having your bed and all your stuff.
32:48These were not only places to work,
32:51but also places to live.
32:52So it means that creation
32:54was at any time in this artist's lives.
32:57These studios have a connection
33:00to Paris' most famous monument.
33:03These workshops were all made of upcycled materials.
33:08I mean, that's what you can see here
33:10is a part of the ancient pavilions
33:12that were built for the Universal Fair of 1889.
33:16You know, the one when we built the Eiffel Tower.
33:19As Montparnasse thrived,
33:23its cafes became the centre of cultural life,
33:26where art and ideas collided,
33:29and a magnet for travellers in search of the new.
33:33People who were travelling with the Orient Express
33:36had to do a stop,
33:38just have a look at what was the most modern part of the world.
33:43Montparnasse was considered
33:45as the centre of the artistic world.
33:48So obviously, you had to see what was happening.
33:52You can really feel
33:53this very cosy feeling of the 1920s.
33:58And it's also very marked by what's called art deco.
34:02You can see that inside it's very geometrical,
34:04and you have a lot of decorations.
34:06So it's typical of the French cafe of this time.
34:09So at night, the artists had their habits together in the cafe
34:15in order to have something to eat,
34:16something to drink,
34:18and most of all, to get warm.
34:20You were meeting people who became your friends.
34:23So it was more than just going to a place
34:25to have dinner, to have a coffee.
34:27It was a way to show that you belong to a clique,
34:30and also maybe to an art movement.
34:34Pablo Picasso was a frequent visitor,
34:36as was Mexican artist Diego Rivera,
34:39and Spanish cubist artist Juan Gris.
34:42So now these artists are, like, famous,
34:45they are considered as the most important
34:47for the 20th century.
34:49But at this time,
34:51I think that they were more considered
34:52like weirdos, you see?
34:54People were not really understanding
34:56what they were doing.
34:59Its owner, Victor Libion,
35:01was a very generous man,
35:03and he understood that what was happening
35:05in his district would change the world.
35:08And he said,
35:09OK, I'm just letting them stay the whole day in my cafe,
35:14just buying only one poor little coffee,
35:17but I know that one day they will become famous,
35:20and they will bring me more and more people.
35:22And I think that he was absolutely right,
35:26because even today,
35:27this place is one of the most famous in Paris.
35:33The cafe's frequent visitors,
35:35some Americans who had travelled on the Orient Express,
35:39were so captivated by the city
35:41that they decided to stay.
35:44Paris was considered as the main place
35:46to live your life
35:49in a sort of freedom,
35:50in sort of, like, effervescence.
35:52Ernest Hemingway is one of the most famous.
35:55He was a part of what we call the lost generation.
35:57So the people who considered
35:59that their generation
36:01was totally wasted by the war
36:03and the future was uncertain.
36:06So they were just trying to forget about this
36:08by enjoying Paris.
36:10At the time,
36:12one of the most influential Americans
36:13was the writer and art collector Gertrude Stein,
36:16who lived here at 27 Rue de Fleurus.
36:21Every Saturday at 9pm,
36:23here are all the most famous artists
36:25of the district at The Habit
36:26to do a giant meet-up
36:28at Gertrude Stein's apartment
36:30in this building just next to me.
36:34Ernest Hemingway,
36:35F. Scott Fitzgerald,
36:37James Joyce,
36:38but also Picasso,
36:39Matisse,
36:40Modigliani.
36:41So you see all the most famous writers,
36:43sculptors,
36:44and painters of the era.
36:46Stein was a pioneering writer
36:48in her own right,
36:49and her weekly salon
36:50was a magnet
36:51for young avant-garde artists.
36:53She lived openly here with her lover,
37:03Alice B. Toklas.
37:05I mean that in Montparnasse at this time,
37:08it was not only about doing art,
37:10but it was also about enjoying freedom,
37:12by enjoying all the life's pleasures,
37:14and also by living some love stories
37:18without getting married,
37:19living love stories with men or women,
37:22with your friends,
37:23one day and not the other, etc.
37:25So it was a very, very free way to live.
37:27If Paris is still a highly important capital
37:31for culture and art in the world,
37:34it's because of this garden age
37:36and all the people were converging
37:37to Montparnasse in the 1920s.
37:39Paris might have been exciting during the day,
37:43but it was when the sun set
37:45that the city really came to life.
37:58With just one night in Paris
38:00before catching their onward train,
38:03Orient Express passengers
38:04would have wanted to make the most of it.
38:07Luckily for them,
38:08the City of Light delivered.
38:11Paris in the 1920s
38:13exploded with nightclubs and jazz bars.
38:17And African Americans
38:19fleeing racial prejudice in the US
38:21flocked to the city.
38:24At the heart of this cultural explosion
38:26was Josephine Baker,
38:28who would become
38:29the wealthiest black woman in the world.
38:33Baker became a symbol of Paris itself,
38:36an icon who drew audiences
38:38from across the globe.
38:41Arguably, Paris' most famous
38:43cabaret was and remains
38:45the Moulin Rouge,
38:47which opened in October 1889.
38:54Fanny Rabass is its press relations
38:56and events manager.
38:59The Moulin Rouge
38:59became successful
39:01straight away for many reasons.
39:03It was a beautiful place,
39:05brand new,
39:05and there was a lot of artists
39:07who wanted to inspire themselves.
39:10Henri Toulouse-Lautrec
39:11designed its first poster
39:13with the dancer La Goulue.
39:15And it created a huge scandal
39:17because La Goulue on the poster,
39:19because she showed her bottom.
39:21Everybody was shocked,
39:22but a big scandal attracted.
39:24So everybody rushed to the Moulin Rouge
39:26to see La Goulue,
39:27so this is how it started.
39:29During the two wars,
39:30the Moulin Rouge really
39:31was the iconic venue
39:34of the Paris artistic scene.
39:37The most famous artist
39:38during that time
39:39was Miss Stanguet,
39:42and she's the one
39:42we created,
39:43the kind of show
39:44we still do at the Moulin Rouge.
39:45A lot of people on stage,
39:47big costumes,
39:49feathers, jewellery,
39:50and she was really a character.
39:53Miss Stanguet reigned
39:54as queen of the Moulin Rouge
39:56until the mid-1930s.
39:58She was called the general
39:59because she was very tough.
40:01If a dancer was too pretty
40:02next to her,
40:03the girl was put behind
40:05because she always wanted
40:05to be the star.
40:07For the passengers
40:08of the Orient's press,
40:09the Moulin Rouge really
40:10was the must-do.
40:11It was at that time
40:12already the most famous cabaret
40:14in the world,
40:15and it still is,
40:16135 years after its opening.
40:19The Moulin Rouge in the 20s
40:20was already avant-garde,
40:23showed today
40:23that she has the same spirit,
40:24but of course
40:25we have more technical,
40:26you know,
40:26it's more grandiose
40:28and it's more impressive
40:29for the audience.
40:30We have 60 people on stage,
40:32so people are stunned
40:33by our show.
40:34The costumes
40:35have always been important.
40:37We have 1,000 costumes
40:39unmet in our workshop,
40:41shoe workshop,
40:42feather workshop,
40:43and, for example,
40:45one of my favorite costumes,
40:47the pink finale,
40:49we have 50 dancers on stage
40:51wearing this amazing
40:53pink costume.
41:00And the cost
41:01for one costume
41:03was 15,000 euros,
41:05so multiply by 50,
41:07750,000 euros
41:09just for 4 minutes on stage.
41:13The total budget
41:14of the costumes
41:16since the opening
41:17of the show 25 years ago
41:19is now 10 million euros.
41:21in the 1920s and 30s,
41:40multiple dancers
41:41were on stage at once
41:42to create a great spectacle.
41:44Today,
41:47there are around 80 people
41:49in the troupe,
41:50and Portia Secker
41:51is one of them.
41:53I started dancing
41:54when I was 2 years old,
41:56and I just kind of
41:57never stopped.
41:58I fell in love with it.
41:59I trained almost every day.
42:02I performed as much
42:03as I could growing up.
42:06To become a dancer
42:07at the Moulin Rouge
42:08is even more competitive now
42:10than it was 100 years ago.
42:12It's one of the hardest auditions
42:14I've ever done.
42:16We do cartwheels,
42:17kicks, walks, combinations,
42:19everything you can imagine.
42:21So there's a height requirement,
42:23so girls have to be
42:25175 centimetres.
42:27I'm probably a little bit short,
42:30but I stood up
42:32as tall as I could
42:33the whole audition.
42:35I don't think I slouched once.
42:37I really wanted the job,
42:39and then finding out
42:40I booked it
42:41was probably
42:42one of my happiest memories.
42:44I screamed.
42:45I jumped up and down so much.
42:46My neighbours probably thought
42:47I was, I don't know,
42:49dying or something.
42:51There has been
42:53hundreds and thousands
42:54of girls before you,
42:57and you suddenly feel
42:59like you're part
43:00of the legacy, I guess.
43:03You know, Moulin Rouge,
43:04it's an institution.
43:05It's iconic.
43:06It's historic.
43:08You need to be flexible,
43:09and you need to be able
43:10to perform,
43:10and command the space,
43:12because at the end of the day,
43:14you know,
43:14we're all on stage together,
43:16but you want to stand out
43:18a little bit.
43:19In the 1920s,
43:21there was typically
43:21one show a night.
43:23Now, there are two performances
43:25a day,
43:26six days a week.
43:27It is very hard,
43:30but, you know,
43:32we love it.
43:33It's what we've trained
43:34our whole lives to do.
43:36It doesn't feel like work
43:39at the end of the day.
43:40I think we're all
43:41very grateful that,
43:42you know,
43:43we get to do
43:44what we love.
43:46My favorite number
43:47in the show,
43:48I think Can Can
43:49is the most rewarding.
43:52The Can Can
43:53was first performed
43:54in 1861.
43:55It soon became synonymous
43:57with the Moulin Rouge.
43:58For its time,
43:59it was provocative,
44:01daring and risque.
44:27There's intention
44:28behind each movement,
44:30which is,
44:31it's so incredible,
44:32and it's nice to,
44:34you know,
44:34follow in the footsteps
44:35of the greats
44:36that have come before us.
44:51I think it's just incredible
44:53that, you know,
44:54a hundred years ago,
44:55people could step off
44:57the Orient Express
44:58and come to the Moulin Rouge
45:00and see a very similar show
45:02to what they're getting today.
45:27Next time.
45:28A modern luxury train
45:30follows the Orient Express's
45:32most iconic route.
45:34An epic transcontinental adventure
45:37from Paris to Istanbul.
45:40Let some light in.
45:44Reviving the golden age of rail
45:47with all its glamour
45:48and its charm.
45:49It's a great honour
45:51to be travelling
45:52at the footsteps
45:52of the great historical
45:54Orient Express.
45:56Along the way,
45:58luxury transformed.
46:00What you see here
46:01is the translation
46:03of the Orient Express idea
46:06into individual mobility.
46:09A unique artistic form.
46:12Here we store
46:13about six to seven
46:15hundred different puppets.
46:17And Hitler's dark obsession.
46:20It showed that the Nazi
46:22were able to run
46:24the Orient Express
46:25just as well
46:26as another country.
46:27The Orient Express
46:57You
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