Fragonard Perfumery

The Fragonard Perfumery in Grasse is a perfume house that welcomes visitors into its working factory, and it is one of the easiest ways to understand how this small hill town became the world capital of fragrance. The building on the boulevard Fragonard is a former tannery from the eighteenth century, a stone structure whose history is itself part of the story. Grasse began as a centre for leather and tanning, and when gloves made from tanned skins smelled unpleasant, local craftsmen began to scent them, which led to a trade in perfume. The company took the name of Jean-Honoré Fragonard, the painter born in the town in 1732, and it was founded in the 1920s by a perfumer who bought and developed the site.

The tour is free and guided, and it takes around half an hour. It starts with the history of perfume, from ancient Egypt to the courts of Europe, and gives an idea of how people used scent for cosmetics, religion, medicine and fashion. A small museum on the premises displays objects such as bottles, pomanders and old cosmetic tools, and the visit continues to the production areas, where the guide explains the methods of extracting scent from flowers. These include steam distillation, a technique refined in the Arab world in the Middle Ages and used to produce essential oils, and enfleurage, an older method in which delicate petals such as jasmine are laid on fat to absorb their perfume. Copper stills and old equipment show how the work was once done at scale.

The visit ends in the shop, where visitors can smell and buy the perfumes, soaps and other products, and a short olfactory game tests your nose against the main ingredients. It is worth remembering that the visit is free partly because the aim is to sell, so expect the shop to be a central element.

There are other places in Grasse that give a fuller picture. The Musée du Parfum Fragonard and the Musée International de la Parfumerie, together with the Jardin des Parfums et des Plantes, offer more depth, and the Marsan Perfumery is another factory where scents are made. The old town, with the Place aux Aires, the Rue de la République and the Église Notre-Dame-du-Puy, is a pleasant place to wander, and the Musée d'Art et d'Histoire adds local history. The Parc de la Paix is a quiet corner for a break.

The flowers, especially jasmine and rose de mai, are picked in late spring and summer, when the surrounding fields are at their best. Visits are easy to fit into half a day. The perfumery suits families, curious travellers and anyone looking for a scented souvenir.