Wife and I visited Paris July 5-18. Visited only Creed and Guerlain (Champs) due to time constraints (you know, castles, etc). Did the CH castle tours (Chambord, Cheverney, Chenonceau). But the highlight for me was visiting the Creed Boutique and the Guerlain Flagship Store at 68 Champs de Elysees.
At Creed I bought GIT and MI for a favorite nephew, Green Valley for myself, because it reminded me of the fragrance of the Giverny Gardens of Claude Monet, which we visited (I think there must be some lavender in there somewhere). Also bought a new one, Virgin Island Water, which we had never heard of, but should be available in the States in the next few months. All I can say, is that it opens with a "gin and tonic" accord, and then morphs into coconut. The coconut is the dry down, so if you like coconut, you will probably like this one. The jury is still out for me. I may offer it for half price on the for-sale feature (which I've never used before).
Forgot to mention that I had bought Creed's Feuille Verte at Neiman's before we left on 7/5. The jury is still out on this one as well; it reminds me A LOT of Vintage Tabarome. The Bulgarian Rose is still a problem with my skin chemistry, and if it doesn't get better, I may sell this one at half-price as well, although I hate to give up the flacon due to the collectible aspect (is this HYPE?). Couldn't help but wonder who THIS was created for, or did they do this on their own? By the way, we missed Olivier by about 10 minutes! He had been in earlier for a press promo on Virgin Island Water! I have a photo (made by my wife) of me bowing down in front of the CREED awning, showing obeisance to the brand. Oh yeah, we got to sing at The American Cathedral, on George V Avenue (which is right around the corner from Creed!), where Ned Tipton is organist. My wife had known him at ST Marks Episcopal in Dalton, Ga, over 20 years ago. We had lunch with him at the Ponte Alma bridge, where Princess Di was killed in 1997. Now to the Guerlain. This was MOST interesting. Bought Derby for myself (may become a signature fragrance!). Also bought Bois D'Armenie for wife. Can't find it in the directory, but it reminds me of Fath de Fath, but not quite as cloying, VERY sexy fragrance. Would have been sexier in Paris, but it was so DAMN HOT that all we wanted to do was take cold showers and go to bed, since there was no A/C at the hotel! After we had made our initial purchases, we asked our petite SA, Sara, what SHE liked in the Guerlain line, and she said "Insolence", which will be offered beginning in Sept in Paris, later in the US. After some discussion, she offered to sell it to us first (yeah, right). We MAY actually have been the first purchasers of this, if she was truthful. The fragrance is a light youthful female fragrance, reminiscent of Lolita Lempicka, etc. Very nice, even on an older lady.
When we go back, which we hope to do soon, we will visit the Place de Vendome, in which can be found Cartier, Jean de Patou, and Serge Lutens in the Palais Royale. Paris is SUCH a beautiful city, even in the hot summer, but I would recommend visiting in any other month but July!
In conclusion, I would like to mention another Guerlain insight. I had been to Paris in 1992 and encountered this most marvelous fragrance (I KNEW it was a male fragrance) while walking on the Rue de Paix near the old Garnier Opera House; I was staying at Le Grand Hotel at the time. I was too bashful at the time to ask the wearer the name of his fragrance, but found out later thru my SA at Neimans in Atlanta that it was HERITAGE by Guerlain. When the US promo came out in Sept 1993, I was there! Got a signed & numbered bottle by Jean Paul Guerlain himself (paid $250 US for that sucker!), but wouldn't take $1000 for it now. I remember thanking Messr Guerlain for creating this fragrance,and he said, " It ees my plesuure", and I thought to myself, "yeah, for $250, it probably "ees your plesuure". But I haven't regretted it at all. It was a REAL hoot visiting their store AND their perfume museum on the 2nd floor, where I actually made my purchases.
So that's it for now. On to Provence next time to pursue, after the Place de Vendome shops, L'Occitane fragrances and Chateauneuf du Pape wines!
Happy fragrance experiences and happy traveling (do I sound like Rick Steves?, forgive me).
John in Georgia (JohnGA)
P.S. Hey, Georgia Tech Boy! My son got his BS and MS in EE from Tech, so I've got a lot of money invested in that institue. Go Jackets! I know where YOU will be for the opening game!
At Creed I bought GIT and MI for a favorite nephew, Green Valley for myself, because it reminded me of the fragrance of the Giverny Gardens of Claude Monet, which we visited (I think there must be some lavender in there somewhere). Also bought a new one, Virgin Island Water, which we had never heard of, but should be available in the States in the next few months. All I can say, is that it opens with a "gin and tonic" accord, and then morphs into coconut. The coconut is the dry down, so if you like coconut, you will probably like this one. The jury is still out for me. I may offer it for half price on the for-sale feature (which I've never used before).
Forgot to mention that I had bought Creed's Feuille Verte at Neiman's before we left on 7/5. The jury is still out on this one as well; it reminds me A LOT of Vintage Tabarome. The Bulgarian Rose is still a problem with my skin chemistry, and if it doesn't get better, I may sell this one at half-price as well, although I hate to give up the flacon due to the collectible aspect (is this HYPE?). Couldn't help but wonder who THIS was created for, or did they do this on their own? By the way, we missed Olivier by about 10 minutes! He had been in earlier for a press promo on Virgin Island Water! I have a photo (made by my wife) of me bowing down in front of the CREED awning, showing obeisance to the brand. Oh yeah, we got to sing at The American Cathedral, on George V Avenue (which is right around the corner from Creed!), where Ned Tipton is organist. My wife had known him at ST Marks Episcopal in Dalton, Ga, over 20 years ago. We had lunch with him at the Ponte Alma bridge, where Princess Di was killed in 1997. Now to the Guerlain. This was MOST interesting. Bought Derby for myself (may become a signature fragrance!). Also bought Bois D'Armenie for wife. Can't find it in the directory, but it reminds me of Fath de Fath, but not quite as cloying, VERY sexy fragrance. Would have been sexier in Paris, but it was so DAMN HOT that all we wanted to do was take cold showers and go to bed, since there was no A/C at the hotel! After we had made our initial purchases, we asked our petite SA, Sara, what SHE liked in the Guerlain line, and she said "Insolence", which will be offered beginning in Sept in Paris, later in the US. After some discussion, she offered to sell it to us first (yeah, right). We MAY actually have been the first purchasers of this, if she was truthful. The fragrance is a light youthful female fragrance, reminiscent of Lolita Lempicka, etc. Very nice, even on an older lady.
When we go back, which we hope to do soon, we will visit the Place de Vendome, in which can be found Cartier, Jean de Patou, and Serge Lutens in the Palais Royale. Paris is SUCH a beautiful city, even in the hot summer, but I would recommend visiting in any other month but July!
In conclusion, I would like to mention another Guerlain insight. I had been to Paris in 1992 and encountered this most marvelous fragrance (I KNEW it was a male fragrance) while walking on the Rue de Paix near the old Garnier Opera House; I was staying at Le Grand Hotel at the time. I was too bashful at the time to ask the wearer the name of his fragrance, but found out later thru my SA at Neimans in Atlanta that it was HERITAGE by Guerlain. When the US promo came out in Sept 1993, I was there! Got a signed & numbered bottle by Jean Paul Guerlain himself (paid $250 US for that sucker!), but wouldn't take $1000 for it now. I remember thanking Messr Guerlain for creating this fragrance,and he said, " It ees my plesuure", and I thought to myself, "yeah, for $250, it probably "ees your plesuure". But I haven't regretted it at all. It was a REAL hoot visiting their store AND their perfume museum on the 2nd floor, where I actually made my purchases.
So that's it for now. On to Provence next time to pursue, after the Place de Vendome shops, L'Occitane fragrances and Chateauneuf du Pape wines!
Happy fragrance experiences and happy traveling (do I sound like Rick Steves?, forgive me).
John in Georgia (JohnGA)
P.S. Hey, Georgia Tech Boy! My son got his BS and MS in EE from Tech, so I've got a lot of money invested in that institue. Go Jackets! I know where YOU will be for the opening game!
