The first time I visited Ladurée in Paris was the summer of 2006. I was studying fashion at Parsons School of Design in Paris and most of my time was dedicated to drawing and browsing fabric stores. Down the street from Ladurée, I wandered into a perfume shop, L’Artisan Parfumeur, my first exposure to the artistry of les parfumeurs français.
The scents of L’Artisan Parfumeur were nothing like the department store perfumes I grew up with in Michigan and Quebec. They were fresh and breezy. Rather than being an opaque composition, each perfume had distinguishable, recognizable notes. I picked up a bottle with a lovely note of saffron.
From the gardens of Normandy
That summer was most memorable for watching the last match of Zizou’s career on the screencast at le Stade Sébastien Charléty, ending with a notorious head-butt against Marco Materazzi. It was also my first time visiting Normandy, and rather than touring the beaches, I headed to Christian Dior’s gardens.
Dior spent his childhood summers in Granville at Villa Les Rhumbs on the seaside. His mother’s gardens are meticulously cared for to this day. They bloom with many of the same scents found in the Atlantic Coast of the US — roses, lily of the valley, honeysuckle, wisteria, and lilac. Living in a waterfront neighbourhood of Connecticut today, I often find myself remembering the magic of Dior’s seaside escape.
To hosting dinners with the Commanderie de Bordeaux
Seventeen years later, in between endless coffee chats with fashion executives and retail financiers, I carved out time to host wine tastings with the Wine & Cuisine Society at Harvard Business School. The tasting dinner that left a lasting impression on me was not one of the dinners hosted by a vineyard, but rather a dinner hosted by the Commanderie de Bordeaux.
What made this dinner special was that the Commanderie brought some older bottles of wine that had aged more than 50 years, and tasting them was life changing. The notes and flavours of wine develop over time and transform with the years, creating a harmony in older wines that does not exist in new bottles.
To creating the first scent recipes for Apricot’s Home
Apricot’s Home candles are made with techniques that are equally inspired by the work of les parfumeurs parisiens and les vignerons bordeaux. Similarly to a French perfume, each note is a recognizable waft of fresh air. And, similarly to an aged bottle of Bordeaux, each candle has a harmony to it that may lead you to almost forget that what you’re smelling is a candle, rather than a garden.
Shop our Solstice Collection for sunny days or explore the Hygge Collection on The Wintr Markt for winter scents.
