In the old days – before Baron Haussmann bashed the big avenues through the swarming streets, before the famous sewers sanitised everything – Paris reportedly smelt really bad. Even London, the first industrialised city, struggled to match the Parisian pong. The well to do yearned for olfactory distraction and thus was borne the craft of perfume. All this is absolutely undeniable historical fact based on rock solid research.
Perhaps I exaggerate a bit but Paris is the home of perfume as much as fashion and for a change from adventures in jewellery I thought I would share some of my favourite perfume boutiques and emporiums. As I was agreeing with a client and friend the other day, one of the best ways to enjoy the city is to wander with a theme and what better modest purpose to have when relaxing, than to search out the best in fragrance, whether classic, modern or innovative.
First though, a declaration of debt and gratitude: my favourite book on perfume is the wonderful “Perfumes, the A-Z Guide” by Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez. Turin and Sanchez paint rhapsodic word pictures of the greats and despatch the grot with equal aplomb, without regard for established reputation. Take this description for example of Boucheron’s Jaipur Saphir – “My eight-year old son, who has an inherited fondness for trash, always gravitates, tugging me by the arm, toward the type of gumball machine that contains an oversized, brightly coloured assortment in a big transparent sphere. Put the coin in, turn the handle, and there falls into your hand a soiled, dusty ball the size of a sheep’s eye, which tastes like a cross between shampoo and taxi freshener. Jaipur Saphir achieves the same effect without any of the fun.” Some of the other descriptions are less equivocal – see www.perfumestheguide.com for some more excerpts.
I like Turin and Sanchez’s judgement, because they have introduced me to lots of great fragrances that I didn’t know but the new does not win praise by virtue of its novelty alone and the classics are not dismissed for their ubiquity. No harm then, in beginning with Chanel and best of all the original store at 31 rue Cambon, Paris 75001, with Coco’s exquisite apartment still over the shop – you can make a virtual video visit with Vogue’s Carol Woolton and see some great still pictures at hookedonhouses.net. At the boutique you can get No 5 of course, in all its forms. It remains exquisite, not least because of Chanel’s prescient purchase of its own rose and jasmine fields. You will also find Chanel’s “les exclusifs” range of fragrances, available only at Chanel stores, including appropriately enough 31 rue Cambon eau de toilette. If all this puts you in the mood for some contemporary Chanel inspiration, then turn to Karl Lagerfeld’s inimitable (if occasionally scary) aphorisms at Twitter
Time to move on to another – this time contemporary – perfume great. Frederic Malle has a small boutique about five minutes walk from Chanel at 21 rue du Mont Thabor, showcasing 18 fragrances by 11 different perfumers. Carnal Flower is as voluptuous as it sounds but in sophisticated style. Vetiver Extraordinaire is one of my favourite masculine fragrances but could be worn as easily by a woman. The perfume comes in bottles and boxes of a weight and solidity that underline the sense of quality, reminding me somehow of the thunk of a luxury car door.
Carry along rue du Mont Thabor until you get to rue Castiglione, turn left and the wonderful “abstract floral” fragrance of Jean Patou’s Joy will reach you before you get to the little Jean Patou glass-fronted boutique on the left. As Joy is probably my favourite perfume I can never walk past without stopping for just a moment. I have a half-theory that if I do this often enough I will gradually absorb the scent and never need to buy it again. Zig-zag across rue Castiglione and you can stop by Annick Goutal’s pretty shop and beauty salon at the corner of Castiglione and St Honore, where they do an express facial by appointment and you can replenish stocks of Eau d’Hadrien.
Just opposite you, across rue St Honore, is the Guerlain boutique. On the table on the left as you go in, you’ll find a series of Guerlain fragrances which are only available here. But if you prefer, you can forget all that and splash on some Shalimar if it’s evening or Eau de Guerlain or Jicky if it’s not. I just bought my father Habit Rouge for Christmas. He tried some absent-mindedly and was immediately and wistfully transported back in time to his twenties. It was only then that he remembered that he had been recommended the fragrance by a knowledgeable friend in the sixties and had it worn it often as a young man.
Carry on down rue St Honore towards the Palais Royal. If, perversely and we all feel like that sometimes, you want something British in Paris, then you’ll pass Jo Malone and Penhaligons. Just a little off the beaten track at 5 rue d’Alger, however, you will find the truly lovely little boutique of perfumer Francis Kurkdjian, with its dream-like miniature Parisian skyline. As well as having created some beautiful fragrances, Francis has also come up with some original ways to convey them. On a fine day you might find a bubble machine filling the street with scented soap bubbles. Inside you can buy soap bubbles like the ones you used to enjoy as a child, only with a great scent. There are also perfumed leather bracelets and laundry liquids and conditioners. Now that’s practical luxury.
Back on to rue St Honore heading towards the Palais Royal and one of my favourite scent stops is the idiosyncratic little boutique of ceramicists Astier de Villatte. As well as beautiful ceramics and scent the store also sells a mixture of stationery,scarves, furniture and books. I have to admit that I have never actually bought any of their perfumes but but I love the eau de cologne everytime I try it. You can buy it almost by the litre. It’s the Frenchness of the concept that attracts me more than anything else, the idea that by combining seemingly unconnected lines of products one can create something new and interesting a la the original concept store colette and I guess in it’s day, Hermes. (Nothing in this line in Paris, however, quite beats Cineaqua at the Trocadero. Museum of cinema combined with an aquarium. Now why had no one thought of that before… Because it’s a bit daft that’s why. But I digress).
Our next stop, Parfum Nicolai, 28 rue de Richelieu, at the side of the Palais Royal, is very different. Patricia de Nicolai hails from the Guerlain family and whether by genetic heritage or cultural influence she produces a superb range of perfumes. All the money goes on the scent. The packaging is simple and straightforward. You’re unlikely to see any advertising. You remember my image of the heavy car door clunking at Frederic Malle. Well, this is more like a family Ford or city car pulling up. You’re not impressed, until that is, this glamorous, intelligent and beautifully dressed woman gets out. The “New York” scent pulls off the same trick for men. By Paris standards the perfumes are good value and the candles a great deal.
I normally then take my heavily laden Parfum de Nicolai bag and go into the Palais Royal. On the far side – Galerie de Valois -you will find the exceptionally beautifull Serge Lutens boutique. Even if the perfumes were awful, you’d still want to go in but there are some tremendous scents that live up to the decor.
Two final fragrance experiences to recommend to you. If it’s summer, go and sit down for a few minutes in the Palais Royal’s exquisite central garden, where on the right day the roses are heavenly. (By the way, I found this lovely sketch by Katherine Tyrrel on a great website called www.urbansketchers.com which took me back to summer.) If it’s cold and the leaves are gone, then find a cafe with a good terrace and sip a glass of vin chaud, breathing in the warm fumes of wine, cinnamon and citrus. The great writer, Colette, lived in the Palais Royal towards the end of her life and you can imagine her perhaps enjoying both these experiences. A critic once called her an “olfactory novelist” and she accepted the term gladly claiming that “I have followed my nose and it has always lead me to what is best and worst”. She advised her female readers that a woman should remain faithful “to a well-chosen perfume, linked to your moral person, to your physical charms, a perfume your friends love and recognize, one that surprises people you meet for the first time and that makes them dream” (“Parfums,” Paysages, 152 and thanks to the For the Love of Perfume for bringing my attention to these quotes). I hope you find a perfume for you that makes people dream.
Rue St Honore and rue du Faubourg St Honore (rue Royale is the dividing line between the two) have been at the centre of Paris perfumery since Houbigant set up shop with his sign of a basket of flowers in 1775. Of course, there are many other places close by that have wonderful perfumes. Opposite the Elysee there is the great old house of Caron with some legendary fragrances. On the corner of rue Boissy d’Anglas is the Hermes flagship store with its own range of exclusive scents as well as the standards. Further along, there’s a Tommy Hilfiger if you want some Tommy Girl (read the great Turin and Sanchez write up if you think I’m joking.) Hotel Costes has its own fragrance store next door (and a florist selling only beautiful roses). (That said, much as I am drawn to strange French combinations like Cineaqua and still like the hotel, I can’t quite get used to the idea of buying perfume from a company that also has a ready meals line in the supermarket).