French Book Friday – The Perfume Collector

A fragrant read for this French Book Friday and a visit to some of the most luxurious places for perfume lovers and art lovers in the city of…well, em love.

BookTrail the novel here

The book is almost a guide to the city and takes in some of the most aromatic sites or should that be scents of the city. It also has a very exciting premise for the main character has been left an apartment by a mysterious benefactor in Places des Vosges no less:

Places des Vosges

The oldest residential square in Paris. It was a vast, elegant enterprise, a triumph of early civid planning with an aesthetic unity rarely seen in a public structure. Imposing brick buildings bordered the central park on both sides, built over galleries which housed shops and restaurants.

Then there’s the apartment itself:

“Her heels clicked on the smooth surface of the parquet floor in the entrance way, echoing throughout the empty flat, It led onto a large front drawing room, which three sets of French windows opening into a balcony overlooking the square below. It was an enormous rom, easily thirty-five feet in length, with high ceilings and detailed moulding. The sheer scale of it was breathtaking”

Galeries Lafayette Paris (c) the booktrail

That’s not the best bit either, wandering through a dusty old French apartment in the most wonderful square in Paris! The visit to Galleries lafayette and Guerlain is one thing…then there’s the shop Grace visits….

The apartments of Paris (c) the booktrail

Even in its state of extreme neglect, the room dazzled;walls of glass and mirrors reflecting light so that Grace was blinded for a moment. As he eyes adjusted, she could see that the space had been designed as a series of bold contrasts. The dark wood counter was a rich warm mahogany. The floor was covered in black and white marbles tiles A tiered crystal chandelier, thick with dust and filmy cobwebs hung from a heavy black silk chord in the centre of the ceiling . And the shelves where filled rows and rows of slim glass flacons, cloudy grey with dirt”

This is a really good immersive read but it’s also a very neat and evocative guide book to Paris. It shows you sides to the city you may not see and others you may not appreciate unless you enter the world of perfumes. If Guerlain is too expensive there’s always the very popular Sephora stores:

Paris (c) the booktrail

The sights,sounds and aromas of Paris are everywhere. Take The Perfume Collector with you on your next visit and follow in Grace’s footsteps. You can even stay in the very hotel she does in the book (if you have a big budget that is)

Or, if you are going to stay at home, this novel will take you there. Spray a perfume in the air and then settle down to be transported to fragrant Paris….

BookTrail Boarding Pass:  The Perfume Collector