Le Train Bleu ("The Blue Train") is a restaurant located in the hall of the

Gare de Lyon The Gare de Lyon, officially Paris-Gare-de-Lyon, is one of the six large mainline railway stations in Paris, France. It handles about 148.1 million passengers annually according to the estimates of the SNCF in 2018, with SNCF railways and RER D ...

railway station in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. It was designated a ''

Monument Historique ''Monument historique'' () is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which National Heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a coll ...

'' in 1972. The restaurant was originally created for the

Exposition Universelle (1900) The Exposition Universelle of 1900, better known in English as the 1900 Paris Exposition, was a world's fair held in Paris, France, from 14 April to 12 November 1900, to celebrate the achievements of the past century and to accelerate developmen ...

. Each ornate dining room is themed to represent cities and regions of France and they are decorated with 41 paintings by some of the most popular artists of that time. Initially called "Buffet de la Gare de Lyon", it was renamed "Le Train Bleu" in 1963, after the famous train of the same name.

Artists who decorated Le Train Bleu

* Charles Bertier *

Eugène Burnand Eugène Burnand (; 30 August 1850 – 4 February 1921) was a prolific Switzerland, Swiss Painting, painter and illustrator from Moudon, Switzerland. Born of prosperous parents who taught him to appreciate art and the countryside, he first trained ...

Eugène Dauphin Eugène-Baptiste Émile Marie Dauphin (30 November 1857, in Toulon – 1930, in Paris) was a French marine artist and landscape painter. Biography His father, Étienne Dauphin, was an entrepreneur who developed properties along the Boulevard ...

Guillaume Dubufe Guillaume Édouard Marie Dubufe (16 May 1853, Paris – 25 May 1909, at sea, near Buenos Aires) was a French painter, decorator and illustrator. Biography His father Édouard was a painter and his mother Juliette Dubufe (the daughter of c ...

François Flameng François Flameng (1856–1923) was a notable French painter during the last quarter of the 19th century and the first quarter of the 20th. He was the son of Léopold Flameng, a celebrated printmaker, and received a first-rate education in his c ...

Henri Gervex Henri Gervex (Paris 10 December 1852 – 7 June 1929 Paris) was a French painter who studied painting under Alexandre Cabanel, Pierre-Nicolas Brisset, and Eugène Fromentin. Biography Early years He was the son of Joséphine Peltier and Félix N ...

Gaston La Touche Gaston La Touche, or de La Touche (24 October 1854 – 12 July 1913), was a French painter, illustrator, engraver and sculptor. Biography His family originally came from Normandy. He was born in Saint-Cloud. His passion for art began at a very ...

* Max Leenhardt *

Albert Maignan Albert Pierre René Maignan (14 October 1845 – 29 September 1908) was a French history painter and illustrator. Biography In 1864, he left his hometown to study law in Paris, earning his diploma in 1866. During his studies he also paint ...

Frédéric Montenard Frédéric Montenard (17 May 1849, Paris – 11 February 1926, Besse-sur-Issole) was a French landscape and seascape painter. Biography He came from an old Provençal family, and his uncle was the sculptor Jean-Baptiste Giraud. His art studies ...

* Jean-Baptiste Olive * Edmond Marie Petitjean * Albert Rigolot * Édouard Rosset-Granger * Paul Saïn * Gaston Casimir Saint-Pierre

Le Train Bleu in films

The restaurant has appeared in several films, including: * 1972: ''

Travels with My Aunt ''Travels with My Aunt'' (1969) is a novel written by English author Graham Greene. The novel follows the travels of Henry Pulling, a retired bank manager, and his eccentric Aunt Augusta as they find their way across Europe, and eventually ev ...

'', directed by

George Cukor George Dewey Cukor (; July 7, 1899 – January 24, 1983) was an American film director and film producer. He mainly concentrated on comedies and literary adaptations. His career flourished at RKO when David O. Selznick, the studio's Head of ...

* 1973 ''

The Mother and the Whore ''The Mother and the Whore'' (french: La maman et la putain) is a 1973 French film directed by Jean Eustache and starring Jean-Pierre Léaud, Bernadette Lafont and Françoise Lebrun. An examination of the relationships between three characters ...

'', directed by

Jean Eustache Jean Eustache (; 30 November 1938 – 5 November 1981) was a French filmmaker. During his short career, he completed numerous short films, in addition to a pair of highly regarded features, of which the first, ''The Mother and the Whore'', is c ...

* 1990: '' La Femme Nikita'', directed by

Luc Besson Luc Paul Maurice Besson (; born 18 March 1959) is a French film director, screenwriter and producer. He directed or produced the films '' Subway'' (1985), ''The Big Blue'' (1988), and '' La Femme Nikita'' (1990). Besson is associated with the ' ...

* 1998: ''

Place Vendôme The Place Vendôme (), earlier known as Place Louis-le-Grand, and also as Place Internationale, is a square in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France, located to the north of the Tuileries Gardens and east of the Église de la Madeleine. It is ...

'', directed by

Nicole Garcia Nicole Garcia (born 22 April 1946) is a French actress, film director and screenwriter. Her film '' Charlie Says'' was entered into the 2006 Cannes Film Festival. Her film ''Going Away'' was screened in the Special Presentation section at the 20 ...

* 2003: '' Filles uniques'', directed by

Pierre Jolivet Pierre Jolivet (; born 9 October 1952) is a French director, actor, screenwriter, and producer. His film '' Zim and Co.'' was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival and his film '' The Night Watchman'' won the ...

* 2007: ''

Mr. Bean's Holiday ''Mr. Bean's Holiday'' is a 2007 comedy film directed by Steve Bendelack and written by Hamish McColl and Robin Driscoll, from a story penned by Simon McBurney. Based on the British sitcom series ''Mr. Bean'' created by Rowan Atkinson and Richar ...

'', directed by

Steve Bendelack Steve Bendelack is an English filmmaker and television director who has worked primarily on comedy programmes. Originally an assistant to Peter Fluck and Roger Law on satirical TV puppet show ''Spitting Image'', Bendelack went on to direct the s ...

* 2009: '' Micmacs'', directed by

Jean-Pierre Jeunet Jean-Pierre Jeunet (; born 3 September 1953) is a French film director, producer and screenwriter. His films combine fantasy, realism and science fiction to create idealized realities or to give relevance to mundane situations. Debuting as a di ...

External links

Official website
Restaurants in Paris Buildings and structures in the 12th arrondissement of Paris 1901 establishments in France {{France-restaurant-stub