Did you see DROPS OF GOD 🍷 on AppleTV? It got me thinking 🤔
If you’ve been to Paris recently, can you recall and describe what it smelled like?
I set out yesterday to track down some Paris smells, starting at the iconic Épices Roellinger on 51 bis rue Sainte-Anne, 75002.
Where else could you find
The best spices in Paris
Teas,
An array of Vanilla beans from Madagascar, Tahiti, Mexique
And now even chocolate 🍫 bars
Tall glass jars 🫙line the lowest shelf. They have open lids for sniffing each spice (perfect level for a Labrador).
I got a bottle of Ceylon Cinnamon (6,40€ - 35 g). The staff is very helpful and bi-lingual.
From there I went to Le Bon Marché
For a perfume immersion
What is Paris if not about perfume?
This is an interesting scent chart created by perfumer Frederic Malle.
I love visiting the perfume salons in Paris. I love the ladies who give you a spritz
I love ❤️ collecting perfume cards to go inside your Paris letters). What’s your favorite perfume?
Too many visit Paris to buy the big brand names like Chanel or Guerlain. Just like they buy the big brand Champagnes 🍾 like Mum or Veuve Cliquot. So much better to buy from the small creative houses and find something personal…not industrial.
Go watch 👁️ DROPS OF GOD 👍
What’s your favorite smell 👃 of Paris?
to me paris will always smell of my memories from my early trips in the 80's... coffee, cigarettes and diesel fuel from the busses.
ReplyDeleteCoffee yes. Cigarettes or diesel not so much merci Deux 🙏
DeleteYou better come back
That's so funny that you say that! I was an au pair in France in the 80s, and after I came back I would smell car exhaust and have a very positive response to it. :-D Great memories flooding back
DeleteAn inspiring post!
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with the first comment on my first day in Paris absorbing it all at Cafe de la Pain.🗼❤️
ReplyDeleteSince my childhood there in the 60’s wherever I went after that, bus exhaust would always rigger memories of Paris. I am happy to say that in recent visits over the past 10 years anyway, that smell no longer exists. Paris always smell fresh to me unless you are in a tunnel on the périferique!
ReplyDeletecafe de la paix
ReplyDeleteLast visit to Paris was a walk from Gare de l'Est to Gare Saint-Lazare and one week later back and I remember the smells of diesel, asphalt, cigarette smoke, pizza and coffee, with an occasional whiff of perfume left behind by busily walking fashionable ladies.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds cheesy, but the last time I was in Paris was 2012 and at that time they had a crêpe place in the seventh arrondisement which was my first meal in Paris after arriving from Africaearlier that day .I will never forget the scent of that giant crêpe being made on a huge round griddle. I had not had cheese for two months and the smell of the cheese and vegetables along with the crêpe batter was intoxicating.
ReplyDeleteWhen I arrived for my JYA in 1981 I was struck by variety of the scents in parfumeries. If you dared to step inside and wanted to try a perfume (saying oui to “je vous perfume?”), you were doused head to toe in a chosen scent! Back then, YSL, Patou, Guerlain were all magical to this young, inexperienced nez. Vive le parfum!
ReplyDeleteI think the Metro smells a bit..but the smell of fresh brewing coffee is around early in the morning., too. Hotel lobbies smell wonderfully of giant fresh flower arrangements. I love all Chanel fragrances, smells of jewelry cases, and drawers of new gloves in department stores. Not so good: dirty trash on the streets before pick up, cigarette smoke, and exhaust fumes. Still it is Paris so enjoy!
ReplyDeleteDrops of God is one of my most favorite shows.
ReplyDeleteDid you know it’s from a very popular Manga (now 44 volumes) and made wine 🍷 very popular in Asia.
Deletehttps://www.winespectator.com/articles/beloved-drops-of-god-wine-manga-gets-english-translation
Hmm…our first trip was 25 years ago over the New Year. I remember that initially I did not like the ‘aromas’ out on the street; intense dampness mixed with other odors. Now, my scent memories of Paris are good food, patisseries/boulangeries, perfumes, candles; all good!
ReplyDeleteMy first trip to Paris was in 1966. I remember the smell of cigarettes and car exhaust. But then wander to my favorite places and I love the smell of cheese and the bakeries…just lovely. Now, the cigarettes are still there but the smell of food from the restaurants is amazing.
ReplyDeleteBTW Le De Givenchy is my favorite perfume. My father bought it for my mother in the 50’s and that was it. Never any other. Today, my daughter loves it as I still do.
Fresh-baked bread and flowers in buckets on the street, overlaid with exhaust fumes and a soupçon of cigarette smoke.
ReplyDeleteWhat a delightful post Carol. I know I would have loved that spice and tea shop. It has been many years since I have been to Paris but the memories will be forever with me. I loved the smell of coffee and a fresh pastry at one of the many cafes and just people watching. I also had to bring home a bottle of Paris perfume. :)
ReplyDeleteI would have to give the perfume shops a miss. Most of them make me sneeze uncontrollably. The spice or cheese shop, however...
ReplyDeleteMy favorite perfume is No.5 ...
ReplyDeleteI visited Paris ten years ago and I just remember how it smelled of bread. Especially in the morning!
ReplyDelete