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| Fragonard Museum Entrance |
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| Perfume Museum upstairs |
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| Perfume Boutique Counter |
France is well-known for her latest fashions, culinary arts and perfumes all over the world. In spite of our brief stay in Paris, we had the chance of visiting the famous Fragonard Perfume Museum located near the Opera Station of Paris. The museum does not appear as spacious as we generally presume, but looks more like a boutique in the two-story building of Napoleon III built in 1860. This musuem was named after the famous French Rocco painter, Jean Honore Fragonard (1732-1806) who hailed from Grasse, the world's capital of perfumes. This museum was first set up in Grasse in 1926. The southern region of France and Provence region have abundant lavender fields, rose gardens and floral and fruit sources for manufacturing a variety of perfumes and fragrant products.
If we go back and look into the history of perfumes, we know that they had been in use since 3,300 B.C. during the Indus Valley Civilization and Vedic period both for religious and decorative purposes. In Egypt perfumes were used by priests and royal persons both for rituals and for embalming the bodies of dead persons. Floral perfumes were brought to Europe in 11th and 12th centuries through Arabian traders. France became the center of perfume trade since 14th century. In 16th century Catherine De Medici from Italy married King Henry II of France and she brought her perfumer Rene Le Florentine to the French court. Thus France became a flourishing center for perfumes as she has many floral and fruit resources. During Renaissance Period and 17th century perfumes became very popular throughout Europe. It is said that Europeans used perfumes on their bodies and gloves to ward off bad smell since they bathed very rarely due to cold climate of their countries. Our tour manager jovially remarked that some kings used to take bath only on their birthday. The court of Louis XV at Versailles was known as "La Cour Perfumee" (the perfumed court) for their lavish use of rich perfumes and fragrances.
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| Perfume Boutique in Grasse |
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| Perfume vials at the counter |
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| Lavender Fields in Provence |
The Fragonard Perfume Industry has centers in Grass, Eze and in Paris. Our tour manager arranged a guided tour of the museum and an English-speaking young French lady was engaged for this purpose. She welcomed us with a beaming smile and took us upstairs after a few introductory remarks to show us the museum comprising antique perfume containers, steam distillation apparatus and bottles. She explained briefly about the procedures of distillation and extraction of perfumes and various methods of packaging. She told us that Perfumes are used not only for giving a pleasant smell to our bodies but also to create a soothing and cooling effect on our minds and feelings. She informed us that nearly 200 kgs of lavender flowers are crushed to produce one k.g. of lavender perfume. She spoke on the purity and standard quality of the Fragonard perfumes which are extracted from the flowers, fruits and barks of plants and trees cultivated in the fertile fields of Grasse such as lavender, rose, lily, lilac, violet, vanilla, orange, cedar wood, geranium etc. They are not mixed with artificial chemicals and are stored in gilded aluminium bottles or in colored glass vials so that their purity and quality are preserved for five to ten years. As Fragonard products are sold directly through their own boutiques, the expenses on intermediary agencies and advertisements are saved. So one can get best deals in addition to 10% discount on purchase of perfumes and other products from Fragonard with assurance of quality and benefit in quantity as well. Some extra empty bottles are given free of charge so that one may share a little portion of their perfume to their friends or relatives as a gift. Fragonard products are available in twenty countries with a wide choice of perfumes like Bergamot, Magnolia, Sandal Wood, Cedar, Rose, Lavender, and Orange Blossom.
In the Museum we saw the Perfume Organ -- tiered rows of ingredient bottles arranged in the pattern of an Organ around a balance used by perfumers for mixing and testing fragrances-- a very ingenious idea indicating the intimate connection between Flora and Music, the food of Love. On the ground floor we saw rows of shining vials of perfume arranged neatly in racks and cupboards. Some bottles are neatly packaged in attractive covers- a worthy gift to any one. We also saw Botanical soaps wrapped in transparent covers-- egg-shaped, rose-shaped and heart-shaped transparent soaps. There are body oils and facial creams to add and nourish more smooth glow and shine to one's face. The prices of perfume vary from 50 to 120 euros depending on the volume and the ingredients used.
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| Perfume Organ |
Our guide also gave us some information about the proper use of perfumes and the proper way of storing them without causing any loss of quality. Perfumes should not be indiscriminately sprayed on the body. They should be applied on pulse points - the spots where perfume is easily absorbed such as the nape of the neck, behind ear lobes, and insides of wrists, elbows and knees. Cologne fragrance is released rapidly and lasts for two hours whereas Eau De toilette lasts up to four hours. Generally the fragrance of a perfume lasts from six to ten hours. Another astonishing fact is that in perfume industry only ladies younger than 25 years are preferred as workers as they age very quickly due to the fact that they inhale the vapors emanating from various perfumes during preparation. In one way these pretty ladies are giving away their charms of youth for enriching the beauty and glow of others. Our guide gave us paper strips dipped in various perfumes and briefed us about their quality and their suitable use for both sexes. Many people bought perfumes of their choice as a lovely gift to their partners. Besides these perfumes will always be preserved in the caskets of their hearts as fragrant memories of Paris they have visited.
*********************************** 2 nd July, 2016 Somaseshu Gutala
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