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I prefer to suppose I’ve kicked off a number of practice journeys in fashion in my time, however the way in which Belmond Trains start their new providing, a journey from Vienna by Reims to Paris, hosted by Veuve Clicquot and aboard iconic sleeper practice the Venice Simplon-Orient-Specific, is like nothing I’ve ever skilled earlier than.
The Belmond Solaire expedition—one in every of a sequence of collaborations with Veuve Clicquot—begins with one thing actually extraordinary: a non-public gala dinner within the 18th-century Palace of Liechtenstein, as soon as dwelling to one of many oldest noble households in Europe. It’s an outrageous set-up: welcome drinks are hosted amidst the peerlessly manicured gardens and soundtracked by a string quartet; there’s the possibility to tour the constructing to see Andrea Pozzo’s monumental fresco of Hercules within the Grand Corridor; after which there’s the dinner itself.
Hosted in a flower-laden, sun-dappled conservatory, when Vogue joined the journey in July, we had been handled to eight programs of ingenious cooking from award-winning Austrian chef Andreas Döllerer, identified for his progressive takes on conventional Alpine dishes. The likes of bone marrow disguised as scallops had been paired with Veuve Clicquot vintages from 2012, 2008, and 2002, every extra complicated than the final. By the point the night drew to an in depth—with a spot of opera, naturally—I felt giddy. And that was simply the beginning of the journey.
As an idea, Belmond Solaire was first launched in 2022 to mark 250 years of Maison Clicquot. Much more unique than the luxurious practice group’s typical journeys, these excursions enable company to expertise journey on a Nineteen Twenties sleeper at restricted capability and with limitless bubbles. My journey was one in every of three excursions deliberate for 2024—there’s a remaining one by Peru, from 21 October to 26 October—and it mapped out the footprint of champagne throughout Europe from our start line in Vienna, the place it was as soon as sipped in royal courts, to the caves the place it’s been saved for a whole bunch of years. And it does all of that whereas offering impeccable positive eating, the facilities of a luxurious resort, and unbeatable views of Europe’s countryside.
