- Nabokov remembers a travel agency in downtown St. Petersburg that featured a model train sleeping car, complete with tiny made beds inside. He wanted it at the time, but it was not for sale.
- As a boy, Vladimir often has the opportunity to take the Nord-Express, a train that connects St. Petersburg to Paris. The family takes the train five or six or seven times, usually to a European resort town by the sea.
- In 1909, the family, some staff, and a pet dachshund take the Nord-Express toward Biarritz, a French beach resort town near the Spanish border.
- As they make their way through Russia, Germany, and France, his mother plays cards while Vladimir hypnotizes himself with the rumble of the train.
- Remember how he had so much trouble sleeping, even with Mademoiselle's light coming from her bedroom through the crack in the door? On the train, Vladimir follows the rhythm of the train and its driver, and is able to fall asleep easily.
- After a layover in Paris, the traveling party arrives to Biarritz.