The Perfume Dinner

What do you mean, a degustation meal matched to perfume? Sure wine, yes, that's what I would expect, but perfume?

I was intrigued, naturellement, so decided to take the plunge and book in. How could I not, when I started my university career all those years ago as a student of chemistry and French with the ultimate aim of making perfume in Paris!?! Here was the perfect combination - Paris, perfume, and dinner ... and at Laperouse, a fabulous art nouveau restaurant almost at the foot of the Pont Neuf.


The venue

And what does one wear to such a fine establishment and such an interesting sounding event?


The outfit

The designer outfit you bought the week before in Italy of course! (The disadvantage of travelling alone, mind, is that you don't always find the perfect stranger to help you take the glamour shot - the ensemble was marvellous, I felt like a princess!)


The table

I was all dressed up with some place to go - how exciting! And what a great experience it was. I met Chandler Burr, the New York Times perfume critic, on arrival, and within half-a-minute I knew I'd been in for a greatly entertaining evening. And as the other guests started to filter in, it just got better and better ... a beautiful room filled with interesting, articulate people with fascinating stories-careers-lives - how refreshing.

To be honest, and as Chandler reminded us all, it's really not such an odd idea to match food and fragrance ... it is very well known that the majority of our sense of taste relies on our sense of smell, something that wine fanciers know all too well. And a quiet nod to you Blakey, I never saw you start any meal without having a lingering sniff to begin proceedings!

We began the evening with some introductions to base ingredients of perfumes and learnt how the master parfumiers build layers of these ingredients to create their signature scents. It was at this point that I discovered that I'm not a 'nose' at all, the elegant man I was sitting beside, and partnered with, in the table-wide competition to 'guess-the-scent' had it all over me I'm afraid - luckily I had managed to find the correct buddy for the evening!

And the food you ask? Surprisingly enough, there were three fish/seafood courses on the menu - which is not something I would have thought would match well to perfume, but then Bertrand reminded me about ambergris, which has been used for a longtime in perfume manufacture.


Asparagus course - just for me!

However, as I don't eat fish or seafood I got a special menu all to myself, and imagine my delight to see this artistic asparagus arrangement ... just look at that poached egg - don't think the Syama kitchen could manage that! Here's my tip after dining on that dish, asparagus chips work! That fried sliver of my favourite green vegetable added all the texture and the taste you could ask for ...

About halfway through the evening, and after one too many 'olfactory holograms' (Chandler's excellent term) we stepped out in to the Paris night to clear our noses and heads. It was at this point that I told Bertrand that I'd at one time had a dream to come to Paris to make perfume, to which he replied 'well, you have been very lazee...' (god I love a French accent!). It was at this point also that he revealed to me that he was, in fact, a master parfumier (!!! although it was to be kept strictly secret for the 'big reveal' at the end of the evening), and ... not only that - yes, in another startling coincidence - his father had a distinguished career in earth science (the first French pedologist)!

By the end of the night I had a new appreciation for perfume, was highly satisified with myself that I'd picked one of Bertrand's own creations as my favourite (matched to the duckling - sorry Andrew), had eaten very well and had laughed my way through the evening with some lovely people.

The next morning I got up and regaled poor, tired Karin and Ned - who'd been there for the shoe-shopping (last minute lucky find in a recycled boutique tucked away in the Marais) and accessory crises - for far too long with anecdotes from the night before over a breakfast coffee and tartine at their local ...


Les Folies

And believe it or not it was then time to leave my beloved Paris again, but not without a last look at the ...


View from Belleville Hill

In Florence with Madame Jane

There is one woman to blame for all of this you know ... I owe my new international lifestyle to a longtime exotic adventurer and fellow ex-pat geo, Madame Jane Allen!


International Women of Mystery on tour!

Janey has been trying to get me over to West Africa for years, and now that she has finally succeeded, we've discovered that from time to time our R&R breaks are going to coincide! So this time - as luck would have it - we were both thinking Italy ... so naturally, I joined Jane in Firenze, the heart of Italian art, food and wine culture.

We started our days wandering around the nicely compact city in the May sunshine, and navigating by our position relative to the Duomo, not bad hey?


Colourful Duomo

Jane had found a fantastic apartment on the square next to the Medici Chapel, and every morning, afternoon, and evening as we stepped out we were confronted by the leather markets barely a metre from our front door. Running the gauntlet (that's for you Modge!) became a bit tiresome, but we tried on some very handsome leathergoods, and although I made no purchases, Jane managed to find a couple of rather choice handbags.


Medici Chapel

And you know where the Medici Chapel is, right? Just around the corner from the central food market. Oh yes, so Jane and I started our day in proper Florentine fashion with ...


...a coffee at the counter

Followed by a casual stroll through the markets sampling a food-whore's ultimate array of smallgoods, meats, handmade pasta, vegetables, bread, vinegars and all good things to eat and drink!


A spot of shopping at the market

Travelling with Jane was an absolute delight I must say, because as it turns out we had a similar attention span for galleries, shopping and coffee breaks. And as she had had a few days ahead of my arrival and had just finished reading a book all about Michaelangelo and the Medici family, she was an awesome guide.

We spent a diverting morning at the Uffizi Galleries, almost managing to miss the Botticellis and the Da Vinci room (don't ask - two geos without a map, highly embarrassing!) which is what everyone wants to see, and certainly well worth trudging back down the corridors for.


Ponte Vecchio from the Uffizi

Fortunately the gallery cafe has everything a weary art lover needs to keep the spirits from flagging when confronted by so many masterpieces.


Girls love cake!

In fact, Jane and I managed to dine very well whilst in town. A lovely traditional Tuscan restaurant gave us the opportunity to sample the housemade gnocchi gorgonzola (Jane) and wild boar fettucine (Ali), all washed down with a lightly sparkling local prosecco - just delicious! The same meal also led us to discover a regional specialty. The pâté that we'd seen on all the antipasto platters around town was also alive and well on our starter plate - Jane left it to me after a brief tasting and I have to admit it wasn't a flavour I recognised, nor could I say I really enjoyed it overly ...

So imagine how we reacted when we discovered that we'd been dining on ... you guessed it, spleen (!!!) the following morning in the bookshop. The poor salesman didn't know what to do with the two hysterically laughing women who had collapsed on his stacks of recipe books!

So from food to wine, a pleasure of life that Jane and I both share, and what better way to persue that pleasure than by hitting the bars with an expert.


Tuscan wine adventures with Riccardo

After an inauspicious start - we had trouble locating our meeting place (we really were on holidays - left all our skills back at the office) - we eventually met up with Riccardo, who writes regularly for an Italian wine guide. He was emphatic about reminding us that a 'guide' is only ever that - it is not, and should not ever be a rule book. So a well known expert, bon vivant, and, as it turns out, cracking good company took us to the enotecas!

He introduced us to the pleasures of Tuscan vermentinos, chianti classicos and a very delicious Sicilian syrah blend ... hmmmmm.


Tuscan treats

All enjoyed with a host of local cold cuts and a variety of differently aged and prepared pecorinos - we were in our element. So much so that when Riccardo left us in the last enoteca, the bar owners decided to treat us to a glass each of a wickedly delicious but perhaps a wee bit forte late harvest white sticky - you may imagine that the trip back home was a giggle-filled ramble.

Having so much to offer a visitor, I now understand why people are so enchanted by this wonderful Italian city, and why she is the heroine of so many novels and history books. Every corner hosts another lovely triumph of renaissance art and architecture.


Foyer of the Palazzo Vecchio

Even the rooftops are charming.


Roofs over Firenze

(Is it roofs or rooves? I think either is acceptable, somehow I prefer the way roofs looks in print ...)

Finally, and it pains me to tell you this, but after careful and diligent searching with my partner in crime Janey, I failed to find the perfect pair of shoes in Firenze (well I did, but they didn't have my size dammit! And I'm not quite worthy of Ferragamo yet - in time, in time) - unlike the fashion denizen below!


Serious boots

But ... what I did find - and quite by accident I might add (don't the best things in life always happen by accident?) - was a gorgeous, frivolous, fanciful, feminine, frothy green designer skirt that Jane and I just knew would be the perfect thing to wear to the perfume dinner in Paris the following week ...

Salvatore, mi amore!

As I'm sure you are all aware, Florence is arguably the artistic capital of Italy, visited by many happy travellers every year. What some of you may not realise is that this wonderful Tuscan city hosts not only the Uffizi gallery, the Palazzo Pitti, Michaelangelo's David, and the terrifically colourful Duomo, but also ...


The Ferragamo Museum!

Those who know me well may imagine how excited I was to just happen across the museum by accident while Jane and I were randomly exploring some of the back streets of Firenze.

Let me introduce you to a true artist.

The exhibition we caught was all about Salvatore's love of colour, so of course the tour started in black and white.


Black and white court shoe - 1965

And I knew that I was doing the right thing buying those breathtakingly high red satin peep toes (thankyou Carrrmen!) to match my glamorous red silk dress - should have known that slippers that spectacular were a copy of a classic!


Blue satin - 1956

Certainly you'd be disappointed with any shoe story from yours truly without at least one pair of red shoes.


Red suede - 1948

They just get better and better don't they?


Invisible sandal - 1947

And here it is boys and girls - the show stopper ...



For Judy Garland - 1938

I think I am in love.