Grasse比草多了個e 也多了人類異想天開的浪漫
把花木草重新排列組合
把回憶與浪漫細細收藏在小玻璃瓶裡
以為 傳說中的香水之都格拉斯 會以滿城的芬芳 歡迎慰勞會暈車的我 一路從尼斯搖搖晃晃近兩個小時而來 但是 一下公車 一股炙熱迎著風致意 熱切卻難以忍受 到旅客服務中心要了地圖 旅客中心裡的溫度 和裡面的法國服務人員一樣酷 冷冷的眼神示意我: 亞洲人就該待在亞洲! 冷氣卻好客地邀請我再多坐一會兒 讓我為難的好一下子 嗯 不然 就坐一下好了 順便徒勞地研究一下滿是法文的地圖
跟我預期的差很多 整座格拉斯山城 在香水觀光產業的精緻包裝下 如經心打扮盛裝參加宴會的仕女般 珠光寶氣 濃郁攝人 但我隱約嗅到的是一股奢華的背後的代價 16世紀時 Grasse的農民開始種植花朵香草 而新興起的頂級香水調配師 絞盡腦汁的想萃取大自然的點點滴滴 把整座格拉斯當成專屬實驗室 走在細細雕琢的古城中 不難想像當時貴族們的趨之若鶩 迷路時轉錯彎 也很難不讓我注意到 這山城的顯著的貧富差距
走著走著 發現了香水博物館的入口 發現了已經經營數百年的香水製造商Fragonard的博物館兼賣場 一進屋內 牆上的百年來的香水瓶身貼紙展示著她優雅的進化 從手工繪製到現代印刷 美麗的讓我忽視我正身處於千萬種香氣混合的單一個空間中 複雜而但不庸俗 濃郁但不嗆鼻
有趣的 待在南法好一陣子後 我耳朵對於英語超敏感 令我愉悅 有聽得懂得語言耶 真好~ 眼前是美國旅行團一行人 銷售員解釋著香水的製造過程與所需原料花草量與香水瓶內的液體懸殊的對比 預告著待會香水價格 絕對不低
銷售員注意到我 熱情地推薦著 我可以自己調配一瓶屬於自己的香氛 (剛剛旅客服務中心的小姐 應該要來這裡受訓一下的) 會貼上我的名字標籤 專屬於我 哪個女孩能抵抗的如此的魔力?! 唸MBA時訓練得宜的商用腦細胞 突然不乖的超越文學細胞 在這該屬於浪漫香水城裡的 提醒著我這是哪一種行銷技巧的極致
我聞著 尋著 覓著 是否在那成千上萬種的排列組合中
能找的到一種屬於我自己的味道
突然間 我懂了 沒有一種是我的
我專屬的味道 就存在於我 不存在於這些瓶瓶罐罐中
想起電影香水中 那為了收集少女體香的香水學徒的絕對嗅覺 不知是電影情節裡令人驚悚的畫面 或是 那太香的香氣 我豪邁地打了個噴涕 銷售員也不客氣的忽略我而招待一群美國觀光客去了
我想 大自然的味道 我比較能產生共鳴
用了一整個下午 走了整座香水城
除了 在教堂後樹蔭下睡了個愜意的午覺外
手中沁涼橘子汽水 爭間恐後地打在我鼻頭上的氣泡
是我唯一的戰利品
陪著我搖搖晃晃的回到尼斯港
by Mila H. 10.28.2013 All Right Reserved.
I thought the infamous Grasse, the town of perfume, would welcome me with the whole town of fragrance as I stepped down the bus after almost two hours of wobbling all the way from Nice, French Riveria. Did I mention I get carsick easily? Grasse embraced me with the overwhelming blazing heat, so hospitable yet not endurable. I got a map at the tourism office. The temperature there was as cool as the clerks whose eyes were conveying, “Why the hack you Asian don’t just stay in your Asia?!” Unlike them, the air-conditioner was so much more hospitable and invited me to sit for a little while. So I sat for its overwhelmingly friendliness; studying the map in French hopelessly.
So much different from I expected, Grasse was carefully packaged with the perfume industry, like a lady in gown with too much makeup attending in a banquet, so glamorous; so charming. However, I seem to smell the price paid behind the carefully designed deceive stage set. Ever since 16s century, farmers in Grasse started to plant ingredients for the perfume, and the talented perfumers tried diligently to figure out the ways of extracting and the perfect combination of the most unique drops of fragrance. Grasses was the lab for the talented perfumers. Wandering around the old town, it’s not hard to imagine the capital of perfumes crowded with the rich and famous hundreds of years ago. It’s not hard to spot the notable gap between the rich and the poor whenever I took the wrong turn at a corner.
As I walked, I found the entrance to the Perfume Musees in the old town, belongs to the Fragonard Parfumeur. The delicate hand-painted perfume label stickers were displayed on the wall; so beautiful and elegant that I almost neglect the fact that I was in a room mingle with thousands of fragrances, complicated but not vulgar; intense but not torturing my nose.
Funny thing was, my English ears had sharpened ever since I stayed in South France for a while. It’s pleasant to hear the language I related to. Nice. Ahead of me, a group of American tourists were listening to the clerk explain how perfume was produced and how awkwardly the ratio it takes from the plants to make the drops of fragrances. To me, it sounds like trailer to the announcement of the prices of the perfume.
A clerk spotted me and advising me to make my own frangrance which would be labeled with my name on the bottle. Only for me. Which girl on earth could ever resist that powerful magical charm? The well-trained brain cells from studying for my MBA degree suddenly being activated in this perfume town that belongs to romance reminded me which ultimate marketing rule was being applied here. I sniffed, I searched to see if I could find any specific kind of smell that belongs only to me from the thousands of permutations and combinations.
Well, somehow I realized, none of them is mine.
My own smell exists in me; no in the liquid stored in the bottles.
Recalled the odd killer character who collected virgin females aroma in the movie, Perfume. I wondered if it was the trilling movie scene that made me chilled or the intense fragrance, I sneezed, heroically. LOL The clerk ignored me and assisted others without any hesitation.
I think, the fragrance from the nature resonate in me.
Spent an entire afternoon wandering around the Grasse, besides taking a cozy nap in the shade under a tree at the back of the cathedral, my only souvenir was the bubbles petting my nose from the cool orange soda in my hand, accompanied me wobbling all the way back to Nice port.
by Mila H. 10.28.2013 All Right Reserved.
I thought the infamous Grasse, the town of perfume, would welcome me with the whole town of fragrance as I stepped down the bus after almost two hours of wobbling all the way from Nice, French Riveria. Did I mention I get carsick easily? Grasse embraced me with the overwhelming blazing heat, so hospitable yet not endurable. I got a map at the tourism office. The temperature there was as cool as the clerks whose eyes were conveying, “Why the hack you Asian don’t just stay in your Asia?!” Unlike them, the air-conditioner was so much more hospitable and invited me to sit for a little while. So I sat for its overwhelmingly friendliness; studying the map in French hopelessly.
So much different from I expected, Grasse was carefully packaged with the perfume industry, like a lady in gown with too much makeup attending in a banquet, so glamorous; so charming. However, I seem to smell the price paid behind the carefully designed deceive stage set. Ever since 16s century, farmers in Grasse started to plant ingredients for the perfume, and the talented perfumers tried diligently to figure out the ways of extracting and the perfect combination of the most unique drops of fragrance. Grasses was the lab for the talented perfumers. Wandering around the old town, it’s not hard to imagine the capital of perfumes crowded with the rich and famous hundreds of years ago. It’s not hard to spot the notable gap between the rich and the poor whenever I took the wrong turn at a corner.
As I walked, I found the entrance to the Perfume Musees in the old town, belongs to the Fragonard Parfumeur. The delicate hand-painted perfume label stickers were displayed on the wall; so beautiful and elegant that I almost neglect the fact that I was in a room mingle with thousands of fragrances, complicated but not vulgar; intense but not torturing my nose.
Funny thing was, my English ears had sharpened ever since I stayed in South France for a while. It’s pleasant to hear the language I related to. Nice. Ahead of me, a group of American tourists were listening to the clerk explain how perfume was produced and how awkwardly the ratio it takes from the plants to make the drops of fragrances. To me, it sounds like trailer to the announcement of the prices of the perfume.
A clerk spotted me and advising me to make my own frangrance which would be labeled with my name on the bottle. Only for me. Which girl on earth could ever resist that powerful magical charm? The well-trained brain cells from studying for my MBA degree suddenly being activated in this perfume town that belongs to romance reminded me which ultimate marketing rule was being applied here. I sniffed, I searched to see if I could find any specific kind of smell that belongs only to me from the thousands of permutations and combinations.
Well, somehow I realized, none of them is mine.
My own smell exists in me; no in the liquid stored in the bottles.
Recalled the odd killer character who collected virgin females aroma in the movie, Perfume. I wondered if it was the trilling movie scene that made me chilled or the intense fragrance, I sneezed, heroically. LOL The clerk ignored me and assisted others without any hesitation.
I think, the fragrance from the nature resonate in me.
Spent an entire afternoon wandering around the Grasse, besides taking a cozy nap in the shade under a tree at the back of the cathedral, my only souvenir was the bubbles petting my nose from the cool orange soda in my hand, accompanied me wobbling all the way back to Nice port.
by Mila H. 10.28.2013 All Right Reserved.
請先 登入 以發表留言。