One of the things I like best about Paris in winter is its overall aromatic bouquet. Highlights are the top notes of perfumes, cigarette smoke, and neighborhood bakeries, with base notes of diesel exhaust and roasting chestnuts. It’s February now, and, for the most part everything, everywhere, smells good. On the train in from the airport, I first noticed a particularly nose-worthy fragrance I’ve been catching whiffs of in crowds ever since.
This mystery scent is probably some well-known big name, and I could go do a sniff test at the Sephora down the street, maybe even just ask them, “Quel est votre parfum le plus populaire?” But I have other sightseeing I’d rather do.
When I tested some of “Vie Parisienne” in a souvenir stand in Montmartre the other night, it smelled a lot like that unknown scent I’ve been smelling all over town. To my nose, ”Vie Parisienne” is a sultry floral with a touch of gourmand, with notes of rose, violet, and vanilla. I waited a day to think it over (and google it), then sprung a whole 10 euros on it. It may be cheap drugstore perfume, or counterfeit, or not actually Made in France, and it doesn’t seem to have the same staying power as the unknown “eau de random ladies on the métro” (unless they’re making like eighteenth-century aristocrats and practically bathing in it). Regardless, I like it and its corny name. It may just be “eau de touriste,” but I also couldn’t find it on Amazon. Wherever I wear it, I can be reminded of Paris, and that’s what counts.
(Blueberry meringue that conquered the Latin Quarter in the background; it took several days’ concerted effort, but I think I’ve finally over-pastried myself.)
NB: For those who are curious, my guess is that Vie Parisienne is a clone of Lancôme’s “La Vie est Belle.”