Train travel Istanbul to Paris via Albania

I'll make a start on this one, although I have only traveled one short leg of my proposed itinerary. Another caveat is I didn't know if you were planning to stop along the way, or travel straight through. My assumption is that this is a long, leisurely trip, so your mileage may vary. However, I have planned several other links in detail for a future trip. Hopefully this will inspire someone else to chime in. Here would be my first draft:
Istanbul-Kavala (Greece), bus (or go on another couple of hours to Thessaloniki, but this would be extremely long)
Kavala-Thessaloniki (bus)
Thessaloniki-Tirana (bus)
Tirana-Kotor, bus (or go to on Dubrovnik)
Kotor-Dubrovnik, bus or ferry
Dubrovnik-Split, by water, ferry/catamaran
Split-Zagreb, bus or a train that takes 3 hours longer than bus
Zagreb-Ljubljana, train
Ljubljana-Venice-GoOpti transfer service inexpensive and efficient
Venice-Milan, train
Milan-Geneva, train
Geneva-Paris, train

If this isn't the kind of trip you have in mind, and you want to go as fast as possible, you might need to clarify for the forum. As far as I know, rail connections simply don't exist for much of this trip.

Albania apparently has two short rail routes currently operating, one in the summer and one in the winter.
All other routes are now freight only, and even then barely able to run due to track condition and lack of engines.
The two seasonal passenger routes are at opposite ends of the country.
Both with no fixed timetables and both with train cars in a very, very advanced state of decay. I've seen a recent You Tube video of one of the routes, and it was certainly another type of travel entirely.
When I say no fixed timetable I mean even the day of the week is a guess, let alone the time.
Istanbul to Paris via Eastern Europe (as opposed to the Balkans) is easy, just 3 changes- Bucharest, Budapest and Stuttgart.
You can even leave again from Istanbul Sirkeci, the Orient Express station, if only on a commuter train.