The train was named after Gayant, the processional giant [fr] of Douai, France.
[1] One year before the creation of the TEE-network the French railway SNCF introduced three Trains d'affaires to link Paris with the industrial area of Nord, near the Belgian border.
These trains were scheduled as a morning, midday and evening service in both directions.
In 1959 these were replaced by locomotive hauled trains consisting of Corail coaches.
Although domestic TEE-services were allowed from 1965, the Trains d'affaires were not upgraded to TEEs until 1978.