Le Train Bleu

High view over Le Train Bleu's main dining hall, white-clothed tables with blue-upholstered chairs, brass-topped banquettes, gilded vaults with landscape frescoes and globe chandeliers beside arched station windows
Location: Paris, FranceType: Restaurant InteriorYear: 1901Architect: Marius ToudoirePhotographer: kkmarais, Where_is_J

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Gryffindor, Schölla Schwarz, Benoît Prieur, Romainbehar, Mbzt, Groume, bogdan1971, simon tunstall

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Le Train Bleu by Marius Toudoire in Paris, France

Le Train Bleu is the celebrated Belle Époque restaurant interior on the first-floor hall of Paris’s Gare de Lyon, designed by architect Marius Toudoire for the Compagnie des chemins de fer de Paris à Lyon et à la Méditerranée as the station buffet of the 1900 Exposition Universelle. Built with Toudoire’s monumental station façade and clock tower in Paris, France, it opened in 1901 and keeps the gilded neo-baroque dining rooms that made it a Monument Historique.

Grand stone staircase with ornate wrought-iron balustrade rising to Le Train Bleu's entrance in Gare de Lyon, oval gold LE TRAIN BLEU seal above the arched doorway under the station's glass roof

Exposition Universelle 1900, Loubet’s inauguration and the 1963 renaming

Toudoire — already the architect of the Gare de Lyon’s stone front and 64-metre Tour-Horloge — was asked by the PLM company to create a luxurious buffet that would match the prestige of its Mediterranean network. The rooms were finished for the Universal Exhibition of 1900 and inaugurated on 7 April 1901 by President Émile Loubet; a sculpted plaque still records that ceremony beside siren figures above an arched window. Originally called the Buffet de la Gare de Lyon, the restaurant took the name Le Train Bleu in 1963 in homage to the legendary Paris–Vintimille sleeper that carried travellers to the Riviera, and in 1972 the restaurant, gold lounge, Tunisian and Algerian lounges and their passageways were listed as historic monuments.

Wide view from the bar into Le Train Bleu's gilded dining halls, curved counter with bottles in the foreground, leather booths, mauve drapes and landscape murals under heavy gold stuccowork

Gilded dining halls, blue banquettes and the station windows

Inside, successive vaulted bays glitter with gold leaf, putti and landscape frescoes while globe chandeliers hang above white-clothed tables, blue-upholstered chairs and leather banquettes divided by brass railings that recall a luxury carriage. Large arched windows look out onto the iron-and-glass train shed, so the station’s industrial roof becomes a living backdrop to the dining rooms. Coat stands with glass finials, herringbone parquet and the signature blue carpet runner organise a long enfilade through gilded arches toward a clock at the far end — a stage-set Belle Époque interior that still feels ready for departure.

Modern gold wavy-fronted bar under a crystal chandelier at Le Train Bleu, blue runner on herringbone parquet, white-clothed tables and vaulted ceiling frescoes lit by globe chandeliers at night

Forty-one paintings and the PLM destination frescoes

Some forty-one paintings by popular artists of 1900 — among them Albert Maignan, Charles Bertier, Eugène Dauphin, François Flameng, Henri Gervex and Jean-Baptiste Olive — themed the halls to cities and landscapes of the PLM network, from Burgundy vineyards to Mediterranean coasts; the lunette labelled Orange shows a Belle Époque crowd at the antique theatre. Caryatids, sirens and mascarons frame the arches, and the gold lounge and North African-themed salons complete a decorative programme conceived as a doorway to the south from Paris.

High aisle view at Le Train Bleu with a suited server on the blue carpet runner, white-clothed tables, blue chairs, gilded arches, landscape murals and a large globe chandelier overhead

Films, Monument Historique and the photographs

The buffet quickly drew high society and artists, later becoming a film backdrop for scenes in Travels with My Aunt, Nikita, Place Vendôme and Mr. Bean’s Holiday. Today the photographs move from the station staircase and neon entrance through the main dining enfilade, the contemporary gold bar, ceiling chandeliers, the Loubet inauguration plaque and the Orange fresco — interiors that are the heart of the project, which is why it is tagged Interior Design as well as Commercial.

Busy Le Train Bleu dining bay with gilded vault frescoes, two large globe chandeliers, wood-and-brass booths, frosted glass screens and daylight through tall arched Paris windows

Photography and credits

Credits span kkmarais, Where_is_J, Gryffindor, Schölla Schwarz, Benoît Prieur, Romainbehar, Mbzt, Groume, bogdan1971 and simon tunstall under the CC licences noted on each Wikimedia Commons file.

View through a gilded arch with golden cherubs into Le Train Bleu's hall, dark wood bar and pastry case in mid-ground, vaulted frescoed ceilings and a distant clock under hanging chandeliers

Le Train Bleu gallery

High view over Le Train Bleu's main dining hall, white-clothed tables with blue-upholstered chairs, brass-topped banquettes, gilded vaults with landscape frescoes and globe chandeliers beside arched station windowsLooking through a gilded arch with golden putti into Le Train Bleu's dining hall, blue carpet runner on herringbone parquet, white-clothed tables, blue chairs and a row of glowing globe chandeliersGrand stone staircase with ornate wrought-iron balustrade rising to Le Train Bleu's entrance in Gare de Lyon, oval gold LE TRAIN BLEU seal above the arched doorway under the station's glass roofBusy dining room at Le Train Bleu with leather banquettes, brass railings, tall arched windows, gilded ceiling frescoes and glowing globe chandeliers as a waiter crosses the aisleWide view from the bar into Le Train Bleu's gilded dining halls, curved counter with bottles in the foreground, leather booths, mauve drapes and landscape murals under heavy gold stuccoworkCentral blue carpet aisle at Le Train Bleu with a waiter in white apron walking between blue banquettes and white-clothed tables toward gilded arches, landscape murals and hanging chandeliersModern gold wavy-fronted bar under a crystal chandelier at Le Train Bleu, blue runner on herringbone parquet, white-clothed tables and vaulted ceiling frescoes lit by globe chandeliers at nightLooking straight up at a multi-tiered Belle Époque chandelier at Le Train Bleu, flower-petal glass shades glowing beneath ivory-and-gold stucco frames around landscape ceiling muralsHigh aisle view at Le Train Bleu with a suited server on the blue carpet runner, white-clothed tables, blue chairs, gilded arches, landscape murals and a large globe chandelier overheadCommemorative Loubet plaque at Le Train Bleu recording the 7 April 1901 buffet inauguration and Paris Exposition of 1900, flanked by white siren sculptures under a glowing globe above an arched windowBusy Le Train Bleu dining bay with gilded vault frescoes, two large globe chandeliers, wood-and-brass booths, frosted glass screens and daylight through tall arched Paris windowsLong perspective through successive gilded arches at Le Train Bleu, coastal ceiling frescoes, sculptural figures on the vaults, globe chandeliers and white-clothed booths along a dark runnerView through a gilded arch with golden cherubs into Le Train Bleu's hall, dark wood bar and pastry case in mid-ground, vaulted frescoed ceilings and a distant clock under hanging chandeliersGilded lunette mural labelled Orange at Le Train Bleu, Belle Époque crowd at the Antique Theatre of Orange framed by gold shell mouldings with a chandelier edge belowClose gold plasterwork above an arch at Le Train Bleu, two siren figures flanking a bearded mascaron cartouche with scallop shells and a LYON medallion above landscape fresco edgesGare de Lyon stone arch and green iron canopy framing a tall window into Le Train Bleu, warm chandeliers and gilded ceiling visible through the panes under the station's glass roof ribsAtmospheric aisle through gilded arches at Le Train Bleu, white-clothed booths, brass coat stands with globe lamps, coastal landscape murals and successive chandeliers toward a distant clockUpper balcony entrance to Le Train Bleu in Gare de Lyon with blue and red neon Le Train Bleu Restaurant script above the arched window, ornate iron railing, palms and the station glass roof

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