podcast
Chance Encounters
The unexpected connections you make while traveling can change your life: from romance that sparks at 30,000 feet to unlikely friendships that begin on the road. Chance Encounters, the podcast companion to the hit column on CNN.com from Francesca Street, chronicles incredible real-life stories of unforgettable travel connections.
" We started flirting in Mongolia. We kissed in Siberia, somewhere on the train."
Chance Encounters
Feb 17, 2025
Frenchwoman Marie-Claire Martineau and American traveler Elaine Comerford were thrown together by fate on board the Trans-Siberian Railway in the summer of 1991. Here's how that serendipitous railway journey turned into a decades-spanning romance.
Read Marie-Claire & Elaine's story on CNN.com
Episode Transcript
Francesca Street
00:00:00
Imagine this. You're on a bus halfway across the world. It's the start of your dream vacation, and then someone new catches your eye.
Elaine Comerford
00:00:20
'I remember I was sitting in the back of the bus with friends and Marie-Claire got on the bus and... just walking down the middle towards the back. And yeah, I remember. I remember. And thought, okay, this is somebody that I might like to talk to.
'Marie-Claire Martineau
00:00:45
Yeah. So I don't remember where the first time I noticed you, but maybe a little later. Maybe in the showers in Mongolia. We started flirting in Mongolia. We kissed in Siberia, somewhere on the train.
Francesca Street
00:01:14
'I'm Francesca Street, CNN travel journalist. And this is Chance Encounters, a podcast about the incredible connections we make while traveling. This story takes place on board the Trans-Siberian Railway in the summer of 1991, exactly a century after this famous railway was first constructed. The Trans-Siberian Railway spans 5,000 miles of track, comprising several routes, including the Trans-Mongolian line, which winds from Beijing to Moscow via Mongolia. And that is where this story begins. Although technically it begins on a Beijing bus en route to start this railway adventure. It was on that Beijing bus that 20-something American traveler Elaine Comerford, first saw Frenchwoman Marie-Claire Martineau sauntering down the center aisle. And once that train embarked, so did their love story.
Elaine Comerford
00:02:36
The first day on the train or two, I'm sure we talked about Japan at some point because we had both lived in in Japan.
Francesca Street
00:02:44
'Elaine and Marie-Claire grew up on opposite sides of the world, but they had lots in common. Both traveling with friends. Well, sort of, anyway.
'Marie-Claire Martineau
00:02:54
'I was traveling with an ex-girlfriend. Actually, it was platonic at that point. She was Irish, and she had decided that when she'd go back to to Ireland, we couldn't live in the in sin anymore, so it was more like traveling together.
Francesca Street
00:03:10
'In Mongolia, the travelers got off the train for a week, and during those seven days it seemed like circumstance or maybe fate, kept throwing Mary-Claire and Elaine together.
Elaine Comerford
00:03:22
It was in Mongolia. We were in the countryside, so we're sleeping in yurts. And there were four people to a yurt. And one night, Marie went out to go to the restroom, and she came back and she lost her way. And she ended up coming into my yurt. So she was coming right over to my bed.
'Marie-Claire Martineau
00:03:41
'I was about to lie down in my - thinking it was my bed. And luckily, somebody shouted, said: Marie, Claire, what are you doing here? And I'm like This is a wrong yurt. And I'm like, Oh! And I just left. The next morning at breakfast, I was like, Whose bed would have lied into? And they're like, Elaine. I'm like, okay. But I would have laid down on top of her if somebody hadn't stopped me thinking I was coming in my bed.
Elaine Comerford
00:04:08
We were a week in Mongolia. And then we got back on the train and that was another.
'Marie-Claire Martineau
00:04:13
Six days.
Elaine Comerford
00:04:14
Yeah, six days through Gobi Desert, Siberia, into Russia.
Francesca Street
00:04:25
And what did you think of the train experience?
Elaine Comerford
00:04:28
Oh, that was fun.
'Marie-Claire Martineau
00:04:29
The train was fun, yeah. I mean, there's no food, really, on the train. Every time the train stopped in a little town, you would have, like, literally five minutes to buy stuff, like a chicken, some fruit and whatever. At one point, Elaine decided to get off the train with a friend.
Elaine Comerford
00:04:45
Yeah, my friend Steve.
'Marie-Claire Martineau
00:04:46
'For, like, you know, just to buy something. And she nearly missed her train. She would have been stuck in Siberia for literally a week. And when we saw that they were still - the train was leaving. We're like Elaine and they both ran and... But we had no phone at the time. This is 32 years ago. There's no cell phone. There's nothing, you know.
Elaine Comerford
00:05:14
So the train started pulling away and me and my friend Steve were, like, running for the train and jumped on.
'Marie-Claire Martineau
00:05:20
Yeah. They got it.
Francesca Street
00:05:26
'After a break, more on how Marie-Claire and Elaine started falling in love and what made it all a little more complicated.
00:05:43
'This is Chance Encounters, I'm Francesca Street. Travelers, Elaine and Marie-Claire were falling for each other on board the Trans-Siberian Railway. Although that budding romance was exciting...
Elaine Comerford
00:05:59
We were still keeping it secret.
Francesca Street
00:06:02
This continued when the two disembarked the train in Moscow along with the rest of their group.
'Marie-Claire Martineau
00:06:08
Yeah, we did something where we went to have dinner at a restaurant. Then we would meet in the bathroom to kiss. We would both go to the bathroom at the same time and kiss in the bathroom.
Elaine Comerford
00:06:23
Thinking back that I'm sure it was so obvious, but at that time we thought we were being so secretive about everything.
Francesca Street
00:06:34
Why did you decide to keep it a secret?
Elaine Comerford
00:06:38
I was a different time back then, too, you know. I mean, things were.
'Marie-Claire Martineau
00:06:43
Nowadays it would be different.
Elaine Comerford
00:06:44
'Same-sex relationships weren't as accepted, but...
'Marie-Claire Martineau
00:06:46
'And I didn't want to hurt my ex-girlfriend's feelings either. I feel like we're still traveling together. So obviously, she found out at one point and was very upset about it. But I said, look, I mean, she was moving back to Ireland anyway, so, you know.
Elaine Comerford
00:07:02
Yeah, I think that was part of it was that and part of it was just the, the time.
'Marie-Claire Martineau
00:07:06
Yeah.
00:07:07
It was still a big thing, I think, at that point.
'Marie-Claire Martineau
00:07:08
Coming out.
Elaine Comerford
00:07:09
You know, to come out to people.
'Marie-Claire Martineau
00:07:13
Now it seems so easy, but...
Francesca Street
00:07:18
'Throughout their railway travels, Marie-Claire and Elaine lived in the moment, too busy enjoying the now to contemplate the future, especially when translating their vacation romance into the real world felt pretty impossible Their time together in Europe was an amazing experience, but at the end of the summer they had to say goodbye.
Elaine Comerford
00:07:41
'I went back to Boston. Marie-Claire went back to France.
'Marie-Claire Martineau
00:07:46
For about three months, and I worked there.
Elaine Comerford
00:07:47
Yeah, and she was working and we would talk on the phone.
'Marie-Claire Martineau
00:07:51
And write. We did a lot of writing at that time, too.
Elaine Comerford
00:07:53
Yeah. And then I decided to move to New York City, and I think I wrote to her and said, you know, I'm moving to New York. What are we going to do? Are we going to, you know, continue? And she said...you said no. And then the next day, called and said, I'm coming to New York. It was something like that.
'Marie-Claire Martineau
00:08:19
Yeah, exactly. So I just said, oh, you know, no, you know. Because I had just been traveling. And then I thought about it and, like, I missed her so much. And, like, the next day I bought my flight and I flew to New York to see her. And that was it, basically. After that, just like, I was in New York. I tried to find a way to stay in New York legally and work. You know, we started our own business, real estate business together. And, you know, yeah. So 32 years later, I guess.
Elaine Comerford
00:08:49
Yeah.
'Marie-Claire Martineau
00:08:50
'We were going to Provincetown to celebrate our 15-year anniversary of being together. While going to dinner. When you do adoption, you don't know when you get a child.
Elaine Comerford
00:09:07
We got the call.
'Marie-Claire Martineau
00:09:08
We got the call from the adoption agency saying a baby boy was just born, come and pick him up. So, we ended up still going for dinner, but then we had to think of names. We had paid for the hotel for the whole week, but we had to leave and it was like three hours away from Provincetown. So we drove the next morning.
Elaine Comerford
00:09:25
To meet him.
'Marie-Claire Martineau
00:09:27
To meet him.
Francesca Street
00:09:31
'With their son completing their family, Marie-Claire and Elaine started splitting their time between New York and Florida. It was Florida where they celebrated their wedding some 24 years after they first met on the train. And that day was full of so many special reminders of that first fateful meeting.
Elaine Comerford
00:09:56
'We got married on the beach on Anna Maria Island. One of our friends that was on the Trans-Siberian with us. She gave a speech at our wedding. So we're still close with them. We got, like, these little train cars and like, the trains were on each of the tables. So that was that was special. Kind of all tied it back.
Francesca Street
00:10:29
How do you feel when you look back on the chance encounter, the unlikelihood of you happening to be on the same trip and meeting?
'Marie-Claire Martineau
00:10:38
I believe it was meant to be. I'm a big believer of past life. We most probably knew each other in our past life and we found each other again.
Elaine Comerford
00:10:47
Yeah.
'Marie-Claire Martineau
00:10:47
That's how I feel.
Francesca Street
00:10:50
'Marie-Claire and Elaine's story began with just a single glance on a Beijing bus, became a whirlwind romance on the Trans-Siberian Railway and has since spanned over three decades. Their son recently graduated high school and the couple are excited about more adventures in their future. It just goes to show that an unexpected meeting far from home can lead to lasting love, family, and togetherness.
Elaine Comerford
00:11:19
For me, it's still a bit of a surprise, like when I really tell the story and think back. It's still a surprise. It's not something that, you know, I take for granted.
Francesca Street
00:11:30
'A big thank you to Elaine Comerford and Marie-Claire Martineau for sharing their Chance Encounter. Next week on Chance Encounters.
Bianca Gignac
00:11:43
I called my family and I said, I'm getting married. I am so sorry to do this to you. I know that's hard to hear that I'm getting married in three weeks, but I'm doing it.
Francesca Street
00:11:56
'This is Chance Encounters, reported, hosted and written by me, Francesca Street. Dan Bloom is our showrunner and co-writer. Sofia Sanchez and Kyra Dahring are the producers. Dan Dzula is technical director and Matt Dempsey is technical production manager. Haley Thomas is senior Producer for Development. Steve Lickteig is Executive Producer of CNN Audio. For more Chance Encounters, check out cnn.com/travel. CNN Travel's Global Editor is Barry Neild. Special thanks to producers Lori Galaretta, Felicia Patinkin, Graelyn Brashear, Grace Walker and Jesse Remedios. Jamus Andrest created the artwork for this show. We had support from Alex Manasseri, Robert Mathers, Joey Salvia, Jon Dianora, Leni Steinhardt, Nichole Pesaru, Lisa Namerow, David Allan and the team at CNN Travel. Wendy Brundige is CNN Digital's SVP of Content Strategy. Chance Encounters is a CNN Audio production. Thank you for listening.
