"Will there be a murder during the journey? I can't make any guarantees. After all, we are famous for that." Michele Rocca, the train manager, had a mischievous grin as he played with the prospect of serious skulduggery on the train that more than any other conveys the magic, the mystique, the romance and, yes, the intrigue of travel - the Orient Express, known today as the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express.
More than 80 years after the publication of Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express, the story continues to exercise a hold on the public imagination. So much so that despite the fact there have been several film versions of the story, November saw the release of another star-studded take on the story, an all-singing, all-dancing reworking directed by Kenneth Branagh, and starring, in addition to Branagh as super sleuth detective Hercule Poirot, Dame Judi Dench, Penelope Cruz, Johnny Depp and Derek Jacobi.
JOURNEY TO ISTANBUL
In Christie's book the murder takes place when the train is stuck in a snow drift north of Belgrade, a key stopping point on what was the route from Paris to Istanbul.
For travellers keen to have an inkling of what such a journey might have been like, the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express once a year revisits one of the world's seminal moments of train history by offering a journey to Istanbul and back.
I was talking to Michele earlier this week as a passenger on this year's return leg of the journey, in this case to Venice.
ON THE DANUBE
We had just left Istanbul, contemplating what promised to be an epic six-day voyage.
It was time to dress for dinner. "In keeping with the spirit of the occasion you can never be overdressed on board," passengers are advised. "You may want to don your most glamorous finery."
Most of us did. On that first night, almost all the male guests were in black tie, accompanied by ladies in long dresses or cocktail style.
WATCH | The trailer for Murder on the Orient Express..