City Lights, They’ll Be Out for Us

Back from a few weeks in Paris. Woke up at 1pm to a barrage of messages about tonight’s festivities and felt the need to announce to everyone in the Whatsapp group that this is the first time since my wild party days that I slept in til 1pm. Ever.

While my body clock slowly adjusts itself, thought I’d share some shots of the trip. It’s always a blessing to travel and discover new things, to be inspired and let the eye graze take in new colours and textures.

GOT MY sourcing done on the weekend, and schlepped home kilos of karité (shea) and cocoa butter home. Found beeswax in some little stores, lavender in a certain herboristorie I often go to and had a lovely discussion about Tonka with one of an old French lady. “It’s better grated and put in animal fat.”

Tahitian and Bourbon vanilla beans set me off in a trance and they were the first things I shoved into the fridge when I came home. Then there’s hard-to-find essences and resins, including Benzoin and Labdanum (you can never find this in Asia).

GRATEFUL FOR Sitting and praying in the Tuileries, metres above a lavender patch. The fragrance came in waves and it was divine. Being stuck in the rain and meeting the two little dogs, Staccato and Soprano who live in a cafe off L’Opera. The Babar exposition at the Arts & Decoratifs. And of course, being completely overwhelmed by the craftsmanship and love that goes into making precious objets at the Saint-Louis crystallerie at Strasbourg. A few days a later at the market, I recognised some Saint-Louis crystal and milky crystal wear for sale.