After a few years living in the south of France I now have the chance to experience Paris as a Parisienne – fashion, food, and of course fragrance.
More than the weather, it is the Parisians themselves who decide when it's time to move on. You could think that the famous French saying "In April, do not discover a thread, and in May, do what pleases you" was invented for them. For if the first real rays of sunshine are finally out, the temperatures are still misleading. Earlier this month, we had ten days we could call real summer. Since then, time has retreated but you can see in the streets that "that's it," the cut is made with winter. Storefronts are showing lighter clothes and have no problem selling their creations. And in the perfumery trade, customers also want fresher and lighter fragrances to accompany the change of season. The "leather" and "spicy" notes don't attract many, except for perfumistas. The Parisians are demanding "citrus", light florals …
How do you know Paris is ready for spring? Just look at its inhabitants new habits related to the beauty of the city's heritage. The clothes are more colorful and fanciful … And to accompany the change in weather what better than a new perfume to evoke the new feeling of 'la vie en rose'; beautiful days, opening up new perspectives, synonymous with rebirth?
In April, in Paris…
Nothing says great weather, like "cafés" terraces overgrown with the first rays of the sun. To find a seat on a piece of sidewalk becomes mission impossible. Especially since the smoking ban in restaurants and cafes, smokers have named terraces their refuge, their last place of freedom. A strong coffee, a cigarette, men watching pretty girls walking in short skirts, women revealing themselves and using the terrace as a sunny beach
..
For my part, I love a glass of white wine in the evening with friends, when the night has not yet fallen. Our appointments are leading us to the Marais, at the Place Sainte-Catherine (near the beautiful perfume store "Marie Antoinette") to Abbesses, just steps from the Sacré-Coeur, or the Palais-Royal, where the Salons Serge Lutens and Les Jardins de Rosine are alongside the famous theatre Comédie Française. I also have a special affection for Saint-Germain-des-Prés, which has somehow forgotten Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir, alas, but the Café de Flore is still there. Younger, I accompanied my mother and friends at Les Deux Magots, the nearby café. I remember its hot chocolate, its fantastic view of the Saint-Germain-des-Prés church…. and jasmine sellers in a hurry, selling a completely dried flower, but delicately scented. In any case, it was something different than endless roses.
This atmosphere reminds me of "Jasmin et Cigarette", by Etat Libre d'Orange. A bold and sophisticated fragrance, with an sultry name, unlike any other. An absolute jasmine married with notes of hay, tobacco, apricot and Tonka bean would smell so great for an evening on a terrace. Worn by a woman just emerging from her work, modern tailoring and high heels, legs dressed in black stockings, but the smile on her lips, an invitation to mystery and pleasure …
(Creator: Antoine Maisondieu)
The parks are flooded …
Unlike London or New York, Paris parks are not very large. But we love to visit when the weather changes to sunshine, during weekdays at lunchtime or on weekends for a tanning session. There is often a little piece of water where ducks and swans roam, with people to watch, amused. The lawns are invaded by teenagers after school, couples flirting (it's spring, of course!), groups of friends, or elderly. All social classes meet there, with no snobbery…
Nature is your host. Among my favorite parks, there is the Buttes-Chaumont. Located at the northeast of Paris, in a neighborhood, it is one of the oldest in Europe. A park which has the distinction of being the model that inspired New York’s Central Park… no less ! You can rest on its wooden benches, or on the lawn; even jogging, because it is full of relief, and steps that go up and down. At every corner there's a new surprise, a tree you recognize, one that has budded, or meeting with old acquaintances, as the Buttes-Chaumont is intended to be a family park.
Surrounded by trees, all more than a century old, the atmosphere of the Buttes-Chaumont recalls the scent of both woody and slightly sweet smells, where nature and sun are one: "Méchant Loup" by L'Artisan Parfumeur”, is based on the hazelnut tree, also mingling with notes of cedar, licorice and honey ; it smells like spring and one wants to curl up against their beloved. A good kind of gluttony, not fattening … a fair grunt of pleasure … as good as any self-respecting wolf!
(creator: Bertrand Duchaufour)
The Seine river is so beautiful …
What would Paris be without its famous river, which bisects between the Left Bank (Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Montparnasse) and Right Bank (Opera, Montmartre)… with St Louis island in the middle? Tourists or Parisians, everyone likes to walk on the banks of the Seine. Every Sunday, some of the roads are only opened to pedestrians and cyclists, adding to the bad time for the typical disgruntled Parisian motorists.
As you stroll along the Seine, you can admire the most beautiful buildings that line it, right to the very heart of this magical city. If no one would be tempted to take a dip (the project of making a "clean" Seine river has been abandoned… just impossible!), its presence gives Paris the romantic character that everyone can agree with. The mayor has even had the idea to install for a month, every summer since 2002), a real beach; complete with sand, deck chairs, cabanas and animations that give a little air of Deauville (the famous seaside resort on the Normandy coast). The Seine is one of Paris’ lungs, and I confess I do not get tired of these walks, when the weather gets warmer. People are smiling, and the decor makes you feel like you are walking in the middle of an architectural museum. One of my favorite spots is undoubtedly the spur which sees the St Louis Island in the middle of the Seine, linked by two small bridges connecting the two sides who love to hate each other, as if Paris offered you a mysterious island to discover, right there, between two waters.
The Romanticism of Paris touches simple beauty … How not to be reminded about the so called "Aqua Universalis" by Maison Francis Kurkdjian? An eau de toilette blending bergamot, orange, lemon, lily and white musk, both strong-willed but open-minded … Universal. Simple but yet sophisticated, naturally elegant, modestly attractive, like the Pont des Arts, which connects the Institut de France at the Musée du Louvre.
(Created by Francis Kurkdjian)
Paris, city of lovers, city of spring … city of perfumes that bring a smile. Light, insolent, unknown or reassuring: we each have our preferences when the weather is getting more beautiful and the sun is less shy. …
What perfume do you think of when you think of Paris? What perfume do you like to take out from its "hibernation" and that means the renewal of Spring to you? Please share your favorites, a scented "French" surprise will go the winner. DRAW Ends April 22, 201
–Emmanuelle Varron, Editor
–Michelyn Camen, EIC and Art Direction
Editor's Note: These Parisiennes are the inhabitants of the canvases by Isaac Maimon. Their subtle curves, their mysterious smiles and their impeccable fashions are portrayed in his iconic paintings of Parisian cafe society, paintings that are created with masterful lines and inspired strokes of color. “I am inspired by beautiful women and the human form in general,” explains the artist. “I see that there is beauty in every human being, and I am inspired to bring that beauty to my paintings.”
His love for la vie Francaise was likely inspired by his French-speaking parents, who supported his artistic ambitions since soon after his birth in Israel in 1951.
The artist studied at the Avni Institute of Fine Art in Tel Aviv. In 1980, he started teaching at the School of Visual Arts in Beer-Sheeba and later that year the Kaye Art Academy. He was also a professor at the Ben-Gurion University in Beer-Sheeba in the late 1980s.