Grasse: a town of noses
The centifolia rose and the jasmine are its two flagship flowers, but also all the ones you can imagine come here to be converted into essences. And with them, the sharpest “noses” (the best school is also here, which can only be overshadowed by Versailles) they make the most delicious perfumes : the one you are never unfaithful to, the one you rub your wrists with at Duty Free, or the one you identify your roommate with.
1) THE ETERNAL CITY OF PERFUMES
“The city was a Rome of perfumes , the promised land of perfumers and those who had not earned their spurs, had no right to bear that name. This is how Patrick Süskind presents the city of Grasse in the novel El Perfume, where the third part of the book takes place (although the adventures of its unscrupulous protagonist, Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, were shot in Spain to make the film).
Between slopes –you go from 100 to 1000 meters– and small squares, such as the Place aux Aires, where during the Middle Ages markets were held and leather was dyed, hundreds of baroque houses survive, almost always with small and sunny gardens . Many of them "were impressive for their bourgeois modesty, and yet, they hid inside, in gigantic warehouses and cellars, in oil vats, in piles upon piles of the finest lavender soap, in bottles of floral water... riches that not even princes owned” says Süskind. Three original Rubens hang in its 13th-century cathedral and a religious painting by Fragonard (the paradigm of rococo with his painting El Columpio), the only one of this genre.
The city of 'The Perfume'
2)MARIE ANTOINETTE'S HAND LUGGAGE
In a particulier hotel that conserves its original structure and decoration, the International Perfumery Museum . It explains the origin and evolution of perfume from Persia to Polynesia and from Antiquity to the 21st century from original Egyptian utensils, such as khol; Greek bottles (which many more centuries later served as inspiration for Paco Rabanne's perfumes), pot-purri air fresheners (a mixture of flowers and dried natural spices that began to be used in the Middle Ages to combat the smells of the black plague) or a gallery with the bottles "of each year's perfume" since 1900.
The jewel in the crown (and never better said) is the Toiletry Bag Room, where the flirtatious toiletry bag that Marie Antoinette used during her escapades is venerated , a true trend setter who made flower perfume fashionable, back in the 18th century. The chest, which no current airline would admit as hand luggage, weighed 40 kilos (20 for the silver container; 20 for "the bare minimum" for daily care) and includes objects as disparate as a game to drink chocolate (at that time the drink, with cocoa brought from America, was very elitist), a portable desk, ivory and ebony bottles for essences, soaps and fragrances; a brazier and a porcelain spittoon. There are only two in the world, and the other is in the Louvre Museum.
In the same room, and in order not to make gender distinctions, there is also a men's vanity case from 1830 (much simpler, it must be said) with tongue scraper and toothbrush included . His garden is a conservatory of the botanical heritage of the city, so that throughout its two hectares, you can walk among roses, gardenias, lavender or orange blossom…
The International Museum of Perfumery
3) ODORIFEROUS MEMORIES
In the 19th century there were already fifteen perfume factories in Grasse. Today there are about thirty (directly or indirectly employing more than 10,000 people), but they have moved to the outskirts for security reasons. Only three of the historical ones are "tourist" (visitable) : Molinard, Gallimard and Fragonard . All of them include a didactic part that explains the manufacturing process of the fragrances, a museum with curiosities of the brand and a product shop. Although it may seem incredible, still passing through some buildings where there were factories more than 30 years ago, continues to smell of rose and jasmine.
Grasse Cathedral
4) PERFUMES WITH DNA
His nose has lit up fragrances for decades. Now Guy Bouchara, together with his wife, has started a workshop where he, together with the client, creates the perfect perfume for each person. The course consists of identifying the tastes of the base essences and mix them in different proportions. The result, after a couple of hours sniffing the matrix, is concentrated in an aluminum vaporizer, with the unique name and recipe.
5) TO COME OUT LIKE A ROSE
"A Journey Around the Rose" is the signature treatment at Shiseido Spa, which begins with a facial with rose essence, which gives the skin luminosity, freshness and hydration , and which lasts about an hour and three quarters. The spa, the only one of the brand in France, is at the Le Mas Candille hotel, a five-star hotel in an old 18th century farm in Mougins, seven kilometers from Grasse; what's wrong with it also a restaurant with three Michelin stars.
6) TIM BURTON LOOKING
It is necessary to take the car and drive for 20 minutes to the beautiful gorges of the Loup river, to reach the Confiserie Florian , a confectionery where the two hallmarks of the Côte d'Azur – flowers and fruit – have been transformed since 1921 into jams, candies, jellies and chocolates. The factory, small and artisan, can be visited and you can see the entire process, from when the violet and verbena are crystallized and gum arabic is added until it is bottled in its nostalgic jars.
Depending on the season, the workshops are different: from February to August, for example, violets, roses, jasmine and verbena are the protagonists of all their products. Your store - where candied fruits for sale , jams (bergamot, lemon, clementine, bitter orange, jasmine viloeta verbena) , chocolates (with rose petals, violet...) , candies and little gourmandises (such as berlingots, marron glace…) is the dream of any child. Or Tim Burton in his Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
7) FLOWERY DISHES
Throughout the year, chef Yves Terrillon teaches cooking courses with flowers to learn how to prepare dishes such as **“Royal sea bream in a salt crust and crystallized rose with artichoke barigoules (stuffed with mushrooms)** with fennel (summer) ”, “the leg of lamb confit with figs, with mushrooms” or “the scallops in their shell with crispy garden vegetables (winter)”. Always accompanied by wine from Provence. Prices range from 47 to 60 euros and last from 1 to 3 hours (plus the menu tasting). They also offer visits to the farm fields (depending on the season).
Yves Terrillon's kitchen with flowers