Rue de la République

Grasse is the perfume capital of France, a hillside town in the hinterland of the Riviera, about fifteen kilometres from Cannes, where the scent of flowers has been turned into a trade for centuries. The town is laid out on a steep slope, with narrow streets of tall ochre houses. The Rue de la République is a main commercial street of the old town, and the quarter around it is the setting for a visit.

The old town is a pleasant maze of lanes, arches, stairways and small squares, and its character comes from the wealth the perfume trade brought. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the merchants and tanners who grew rich on scented leather and perfumery built private mansions in the town, with elegant doorways and inner courtyards. One of the best known is the Hôtel de Cabris, the town house of the Marquise de Cabris, the sister of the revolutionary Mirabeau, which was a centre of fashionable society in the late eighteenth century. The Place aux Aires, a sloping square lined with arcaded houses and anchored by a fountain, was once the place where the farmers brought their produce, and it is now a market place on certain days and a pleasant spot for a drink. The Place aux Anciennes is another place with a fountain, in the old part of the quarter.

The Cathédrale Notre-Dame-du-Puy stands on the edge of the old town, and its austere Romanesque and Gothic interior contains paintings by Rubens and Fragonard, the artist born in Grasse in 1732, and the Place du Cours has a view over the plain toward the sea. The quarter is full of cafés and restaurants, where you can try local dishes such as the fassum, a Provençal stuffed cabbage, and socca, a chickpea pancake, and the shops sell perfume, soaps, candied fruit and olive oil.

Grasse's perfume houses, among them Fragonard, Molinard and Galimard, offer free tours and workshops where visitors can learn about the making of fragrance and even create their own. The Musée International de la Parfumerie, the Jardin des Parfums et des Plantes and the factories on the edge of town give more depth. In May, the rose harvest and the Fête de la Rose bring flowers to the streets, and in August the Jasmine festival does the same.

The streets are open at any time and entirely free. They suit lovers of fragrance, walkers and those who like old towns. Allow a few hours for strolling and tasting.