In late December I was invited to a press opening of Le Grand Musee du Parfum, located on the ritzy rue Faubourg Saint Honoré across the street from the Hotel Bristol.
The beautifully restored 19th former hotel particulier, spanning three floors with over 15,000 square feet of exhibition space, was the home of aristocrat Antoine-Marie Roederer in the mid-1800s and in the early to late 1990s it was the couture house of designer Christian Lacroix.
Le Grand Musee du Parfum states it’s a cultural institution committed to educating visitors in understanding the mysterious world and art of perfume making while also having a sensory experience.
The museum is laid out with three sections. The first is divided into four galleries: la galerie des séducteurs (seducers’ gallery), le parfum sacré (sacred perfume), le cabinet de curiosités (the curio cabinet), and l’essor de la parfumerie moderne (the rise of modern perfumery). The history of perfume is documented from the ancient beginnings in Egypt where the first perfume was formulated, kyphi, to current day perfume manufacturing.
The next gallery was sensory immersion, which also included a fun interactive section, where we were invited to a room with a state of the art installation. A series of hanging metal spheres represent the different oils and flower scents from which perfume is derived from. For instance you pick up the one marked lavender and you put the sphere up to your ear so you can listen to a history of lavender and how its used in perfume and after it sprays a dash of lavender for you to smell.
L’Art du Parfumeur – The Art of the Perfumer presents a series a series of videos feature top Parisian perfumers, who explain their passion and experience of the complex process of developing a new scent.
The museum houses a 13,000 square foot garden, which will be used to raise awareness for sustainability by developing perfume plants.
In addition to the permanent exhibition rooms,Le Grand Musee du Parfum offers workshops, cultural events, new exhibitions, and performances and will collaborate with luxury and fine crafts companies to produce perfume related products.
73 rue du Faubourg Saint Honoré – 75008
Metro: Champs Elysees-Clemenceau, Franklin Roosevelt
http://www.grandmuseeduparfum.fr/
Open Tuesday to Sunday 10:30AM to 7PM, Thursday till 10PM
Admission: 14.50€
Eye Prefer Paris Book of the Month, The Velvet Hours by Allyson Richman.
Click here to order
Eye Prefer Paris Photos
I am happy to announce a new series of Eye Prefer Paris photos. Give the gift of Paris to yourself or your Francophile friends, relatives, colleagues and co-workers.
I’ve listed 20 new photos on my Etsy page for easy shopping.
Photo prints come in two sizes, 8”X10”, $35 each plus shipping and 11”X14”, $50 each, plus shipping.
They are printed on Fuji crystal Archive metallic paper with rich satin gloss finish and are unsigned and unframed.
Shipping is $6 per photo in continental U.S. and shipping time is 3-5 days via USPS.
I can also ship them UPS or Fedex for an extra charge.
If you are ordering photos as a gift, I can write a personal note card if you send me your text.
Click here to see full selection of images.
https://www.etsy.com/shop/EyePreferParis?ref=hdr_shop_menu
Below are some sample images.
Come experience Eye Prefer Paris live with Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I personally lead. Eye Prefer Paris Tours include many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes, food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks and gardens and much more. In addition to my specialty Marais Tour, I also lead tours of Montmartre, St. Germain, Latin Quarter, in addition to Shopping Tours, Gay Tours, Girlfriend Tours, Food Tours, Flea Market Tours, Paris Highlights Tours, and Chocolate & Pastry tours.
Tours start at 225 euros for up to 3 people, and 75 euros for each additional person. I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris.
Check it out at www.eyepreferparistours.com
Click here to watch a video of our famous Marais tour