Le Train Bleu, Paris

Le Train Bleu is the grand restaurant above the platforms of Gare de Lyon, reached by a sweeping double staircase. Its lavish dining rooms were created for the 1900 World's Fair by architect Marius Toudoire, and President Émile Loubet inaugurated them on 7 April 1901. Look at the painted surfaces around the great hall: about thirty artists of their era filled the restaurant with scenes linked to the railway’s routes.

The ceilings rise eight metres, and the main hall contains three paintings representing Paris, Lyon and Marseille. A large wall scene depicts the Roman theatre at Orange and includes portraits of railway leaders, Sarah Bernhardt and other celebrated figures. Above the stairs leading toward the tracks, another mural presents the Alexandre III bridge and the exhibition palaces built for the fair.

The original kitchens were installed in the roof, with seven electric lifts carrying dishes down to the dining rooms. In the 1960s, demolition threatened these interiors; André Malraux intervened in 1966, and the principal rooms received historic-monument protection in 1972. Writers, actors and artists including Colette, Jean Gabin and Salvador Dalí became regular guests. The restaurant took its present name in 1963, recalling the luxury railway service that once connected Paris with the Mediterranean coast.