Lacroix dresses trains

April 27, 2005: One endearing thing about the French is the way they have of dressing up public servants, even meter maids, in designer outfits. Air France employees have just donned new uniforms by haute couture designer Christian Lacroix, and the country’s trains are also fashion victims. The ubiquitous Lacroix has created the decorative scheme for the interiors of the new TGV (high-speed train) Est line, which will finally provide a long-awaited high-speed connection between Paris, Strasbourg and Nancy. The only problem is that the spiffy new trains, which will be gradually put into service beginning in September, won’t actually be traveling at high speeds until 2007, when the trip from Paris to Strasbourg will be cut from four hours to two hours and 20 minutes, at a speed of 320 kilometers per hour. It may still be a slow journey for the moment, but at least passengers will be traveling in style, with different color schemes to distinguish first and second class: green and gray for the former and plum and red for the latter.

© 2005 Paris Update