A Perfumed Pilgrimage

Today was Monday of the second week of my internship in the Grasse based company Robertet. www.robertet.com  I am working in both cometics/application, and the perfumery departments.   So far, the days are long, French-speaking, but facinationg and I am gaining insights into the industry that being in school has not able to provide.  I am working on a detailed chapter about this, but of course, time is a bit limited,  so thought I’d give you all a little note now just so you know that I haven’t disappeared into the desert on the back of a camel…

And on another note, I went into the mountains yesterday to see the Wild Lavender!  Yes the Lavandre Sauvage is in full bloom, and I was amazed by the quantity spread over the whole mountainside and glorious beauty of all that purple in its natural setting.  I cut quite a lot which is now spread out around my apartment drying on newspapers. I also found abundant clumps of a low tough little herb that smells and tastes like hot wild oregano oil many of us are familiar with.  I still need to get hold of a field guide for the wild plants here to identify it, but nonetheless, have a bundle of this drying as well.  From the smell there is a carvacrol and likely a thymol component and I think I’ll make a tincture with the high percentage grape.spirits that can be found in Italy.

I was informed that the annual commercial harvest of this fantastic wild and purple product will begin on July 10.  It looks like it might be a good year….