Sensory overload in Grasse

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Now what kind of a trip to the Cote d’Azur, French Riviera, the South of France, Aix en Provence, home of L’Occitane, would be complete without a trip to Grasse, home of famed parfumeries?

Let me first start by laying to rest the age-long question of “Are the French really dirty?” Now just for the record, I love French people. Some of my favorite people in the world are French, some of my closest friends are French, and I absolutely love French men. However, why do you think France is so renowned for their perfumes? Back in the day, French royalty didn’t bathe, as bathing was seen only for the dirty. And to compensate for this, perfumes were created to keep them smelling oh so enchanting. So there you have it, it is true. There is indeed a root to the myth that French people are dirty.

So this Parfumerie Fragonard was all of factory, museum, and store. The tour took us through the entire process of creating a perfume. Did you know... that the reason all perfumes start smelling the same in the department stores is not for any other reason except you are smelling the perfumes still wet? If you sniff the dry scents, your nose is easily able to distinguish between perfumes. Did you know... that normally to draw the essence of a flower one would boil it. But for flowers such as lavender which cannot be boiled, they would place the petals on animal fat to soak in the essence, and then boil to separate the fat from the essence in a separate process? (And no, on the movie on that crazy killer who made perfumes out of women - they said that wouldn’t work.) Did you know that when you buy a perfume at the counter, you are paying more for the bottle and packaging than the perfume itself?

Did you know... the perfume industry grooms these people known as Noses every year in Versailles? To even go through the application process they have to identify over a couple hundred scents, and by the time they come out they can recognize some ridiculous amount probably in the thousands, the number escapes me now. There are around 300 Noses in the world, and the majority of these are men. Why? Men are thought to be more stable in their senses, unlike a woman who throughout her life goes through several cycles with birth and crazy PMS and whatnot, therefore affecting her sense of smell.

After the perfumerie, we wandered around the town and found a cafe to have lunch. This sounds so cliche, but it’s true. Everything just tastes better in France. Ingredients are more fresh, the bread is better, the fruit is more ripe, the cured meats are out of this world, the wine won’t give you hangovers, and the accents on the waiters are entirely too sexy. I mean even at the Nice Cote d’Azur Airport, Nick and I could not get enough of this arirport cafe’s ham and cheese on a baguette! When is airport cafe food including even lounges, EVER decent?

I am pretty sure I can’t fit that dress anymore.

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