Follow Your Nose: A Perfume Museum Just Opened Its Doors in Paris
In Paris, our noses– and the city’s collective flair for adventure– often guide us to special places. Now we can follow our noses to a new museum that is much more than just a sweet smell: the Grand Musée de Parfum.
On one of Paris’ most sophisticated streets, the Grand Musée du Parfum (the Grand Perfume Museum) just opened its door. The museum’s 1400 square meters are dedicated to one of the finest jewels of French luxury: perfume. Set in a lovely garden known for its abundant springtime blossoms, the Hôtel Particulier (formerly the home of Maison Christian Lacroix) the space invites visitors to truly “experience” their senses.
Upon entering, we discover the origins of perfume through the olfactory intimacy of historic couples. Cleopatra and Marc Antony, the Queen of Sheba and King Solomon, or Louis XIV and Madame de Montespan were among the most famous lovers of aphrodisiac or sacred essences like myrrh and “true incense”.
Next, a playful circuit in a minimal design setting invites visitors to explore the emotional dimension of fragrances. Giant flowers diffuse nostalgic aromas like firewood or madeleine in the Jardin des Senteurs. Next, the perfumer’s art is revealed through interactive installations like Blossom– an imaginary rose bush that lets us smell five interpretations of a rose scent made up of natural fragrances and/or synthetic molecules.
An airy library of 25 olfactory spheres unveils essential fragrances such as camphor, musk, and sandalwood. Finally, we can meditate in front of the perfumer’s Organ, a crystalline musical creation by the Jason Bruges Studio collective, which evokes the “composition” of a fragrance. And to conserve a memory of this olfactory voyage, the concept store proposes an exclusive selection of perfumes, a flower bar, books, scented candles, and luxury soaps in irresistible, vintage packaging. The visit promises almost 70 strange, subtle, or bewitching scents for adventurous noses!
Grand Musée du Parfum is located at 73 rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, 75008 Paris. Find more information (including admission and visiting hours) here.
