Mays Chanel-trip II
Back to my room at hotel Le Normandy. Chanel tradition teaches that there is always ‘something’ in your room, at least the handwritten welcome. I have been whispered to that the calligrapher in question travels along on important and extensive trips like this to make any ad hoc adjustments. Even the scent cards on which we will smell the three fragrances the next day are all described by him. You don't need to tell the Chanel company that God is in the details.
On my bed awaits a beach bag (I would already be jealous of myself at this point) containing a white bath towel with the logo stamped in it (jealous times ten), the three new fragrances from Les Eaux de Chanel (ripe for a session with a trauma doctor) and a marinière shirt with the Chanel logo painted on it (at this point, I would be in such a state of jealousy that I would probably need to be tied down, I fear). I take a moment for controlled breathing, about ten minutes, and then calmly start unpacking the fragrances.
Les Eaux de Chanel are dedicated to locations that were all particularly significant in the life of Gabrielle Chanel. Interestingly, they are all coastal towns. Deauville, where she opened her first boutique, Biarritz, where she expanded her empire, cut her hair, and experienced the happiest time with Boy Chapel, and Venice, finally, where she went when she was inconsolable after the death of her great love Boy. Venice also became the city that inspired her to baroque. The mosaics, the gold leaf, the gemstones in the San Marco basilica; everything will return in her later jewelry collections.
The three fragrances have been captured in scents by master perfumer Olivier Polge. They are ‘no-gender’, meaning also for your beloved. They have an adventurous freshness; if you close your eyes and spray your body with the generous mist (the bottles are equipped with a special pump that spreads the micro-droplets longer than a traditional sprayer, making the application of the fragrance a luxurious experience in itself), it is very easy to imagine yourself on the boardwalk of Deauville, along the rocks of Biarritz, or on a Riva in Venice. Lemon and orange can be found in all fragrances, but in ‘the’ Deauville you also encounter basil: the green of Deauville. Biarritz is a bit stronger, with a wilder sea and a rougher rocky landscape. Therefore, here is a slightly more powerful perfume that was supposed to create an ‘aquatic experience’ according to Olivier Polge. He added vetiver, mandarin, and white musk. Result? A powerful, ironclad, and fresh perfume that you can compare to a dive in the ocean.
The third perfume, Paris-Venise, is inspired by a long journey on the Orient Express from Paris to Venice. Venice called for a touch of oriental, which was achieved by adding not only citrus fruits (which still dominate as this remains a fresh, uplifting scent) but also neroli, iris, and geranium. The lush, powdery aspect is provided by vanilla, cedarwood, and amber, although that remains a very subtle layer and is certainly not overly whispering.
Les Eaux de Chanel are not presented to us in a conference room of the hotel. We drive to a villa by the coast. Not just any villa; the villa. The place where Marcel Proust wrote his ‘À la recherche du temps perdu’. We smell, we feel, we make flat lays, watercolor, and suddenly feel, when we close our eyes and let the perfume come to us, very, very close to Gabrielle.
