Welcome to the weekly Perfume Chat Room, perfumistas! I envision this chat room as a weekly drop-in spot online, where readers may ask questions, suggest fragrances, tell others their SOTD, comment on new releases or old favorites, and respond to each other. The perennial theme is fragrance, but we can interpret that broadly. This is meant to be a kind space, so please try not to give or take offense, and let’s all agree to disagree when opinions differ. In fragrance as in life, your mileage may vary! YMMV.
Today is Friday, March 15, and we’re back from Paris! What a wonderful trip we had. It was our first visit back to Paris since our honeymoon, decades ago. Although we’ve been lucky enough to visit other parts of France since then, we hadn’t yet been back to Paris. Early March isn’t the ideal time of year, just because the weather in Paris at that time can be cold and rainy, and we got a bit of both, but less than we had expected during the daytime. We revisited several of Paris’ “greatest hits”, like the Louvre and the Sainte Chapelle, but we also just walked around a lot — and yes, we visited some perfume stores! I had to adjust my list but was more than satisfied with the places we reached, some of which hadn’t been on my list!
Some of you probably knew this, but I hadn’t realized that the Marais district now has so many perfumeries! Some are brand-specific, and one lovely stop was an independent perfumery called “Sens Unique”, which one of you had suggested. We stumbled across several that I hadn’t known would be in that area, and couldn’t possibly visit them all.
We also visited the Palais Royal, home to both Serge Lutens and Parfums de Rosine. I got a warm welcome at both boutiques — in fact, contrary to Paris’ reputation (which I think is very outdated), we received a warm welcome everywhere we went.
As hoped, a few of the Palais Royal’s pink magnolias were starting to bloom, and we saw many daffodils in bloom all over Paris (and at Versailles, where we spent a happy, sunny day). Although we didn’t make it to the Fragonard perfume museum, I did buy a bottle of Fragonard’s Narcisse as a souvenir of our trip. I was very good, though — I bought one travel spray at Parfums de Rosine (Bulle de Rose) and a few discovery sets elsewhere. TBH, I probably would have bought more than one travel spray at Parfums de Rosine, but very few of their fragrances come in that size. I didn’t buy anything at Serge Lutens because 1) I was a bit overwhelmed by the range and variety; and 2) the one that most interested me, De Profundis, was being sold in the “gratte-ciel” bottle, which I don’t like, not in the famous bell jar. They might have been able to find one for me if I had asked, I suppose, but I was also deterred by the high price.
The Bon Marché department store currently has an installation throughout its Left Bank store called “Mise en Page”, with displays around the theme of books and reading. This included the ground floor fragrance area, and the display was very charming. I had hoped there might be a special fragrance for the event, but what was on offer were current fragrances from houses like Diptyque, Frederic Malle, and Byredo. Still fun, though!
Believe it or not, Paris is about to have its first ever “Paris Perfume Week“, organized by Nez, starting March 21! If this becomes an annual event, which I hope it will, I’ll have to time future visits to Paris accordingly. It is a combination trade show for the industry and showcase for the public, with various programs and lectures that non-professionals can attend. I love the whole idea!
Some of you asked me to comment on food, so here goes! Three of our favorite spots were: La Fontaine de Mars; Les Petits Pois; and Le Quartier Latin. La Fontaine de Mars is a classic French brasserie near the Eiffel Tower, with dishes like duck confit and cassoulet. A signature appetizer of theirs is eggs baked in red wine — OMG, so yummy! Now I want the recipe. Les Petits Pois is a tiny, French modern restaurant near the Jardin des Plantes. Very reasonably priced with very original, high quality food. The dessert I had was hands-down the best I’ve eaten in years: it was basically a stack of chocolate sable cookies, slathered with cream, meringue, and chocolate sauce. Absolutely divine! Le Quartier Latin is actually an Italian restaurant that was a short walk from our hotel on the Left Bank. We went twice, because the food was so good and the host so welcoming. We enjoyed both their pasta and their pizza. Reservations are recommended for all three, and are easier to get if you want to eat when they open at 7 pm. We also had the legendary hot chocolate and Mont Blanc pastry at a branch of Angelina, as a break during our LONG visit to the Louvre. The hot chocolate was truly amazing, and the perfect museum pick-me-up. The Mont Blanc pastry was delicious but oh so sweet and rich! I’m grateful to our server, who told us that we should share one instead of having one each, because of the hefty overload of sugar.
So there you have it — and now I’m back home, working hard in my garden to get everything organized for peak spring bloom time, which is upon us. What fragrant adventures have you enjoyed recently?
Serenity Now Scents and Sensibilities 