A technical object that has become a cultural icon, the Orient-Express has crystallized a multitude of narratives and representations based on real or invented facts. However, before becoming a literary and cinematographic object, the Orient-Express is above all the train of a railway company: the Compagnie internationale des wagons-lits (CIWL) . The first of a series of international luxury trains, the Orient-Express operated from 1883 to 1977 and made it possible to connect Paris to Constantinople, today's Istanbul. Its creation was a diplomatic and economic tour de force at a time when the railway was used as a tool in the service of political power by empires and states.

The works and photographs presented in the exhibition Orient-Express & Cie. Itinerary of a modern myth come from the archives of the ancient Compagnie internationale des wagons-lits. Photographic collections, plans, maps, technical drawings and period advertising posters, the exhibition contains over 200 pieces that place the Orient-Express in its global historical context. Although most of the photographs are anonymous, some are signed by famous studios such as Paul Nadar, Albert Chevojon and Sébah & Joaillier. In addition to the myth, the exhibition recounts the engineering of a luxury train made possible by an extraordinary network of companies and services (laundries, cabinet-makers, coppersmiths, etc.).