A weekend out of town for The Dandy in the beautiful City of Chester.
With a history stretching back more or less unbroken to Roman times, the past runs through the terrain here like the great seams of red sandstone in the local soil.
These rocks have been hewn from the ground to create the settlement’s walls and its cathedral, built over generations between the eleventh and sixteenth centuries. Restored, some would say rebuilt, in the nineteenth.
Though the Church of England does not prohibit the use of incense, it is less widespread than in many Roman Catholic places of worship.
Nevertheless, nearly five centuries after the schism with Rome, somehow these ancient churches still seem at least to smell of the universal scent of devotion.
Olfactory connective tissue linking the senses across time, from ancient Rome to papal imperium to modern day England.
No perfume so perfectly captures this scent as Comme des Garcons Incense Avignon.
And so today beneath glowering stormy skies I wore it to wander along walls and through once monastic precincts and contemplate times past.
See you back ‘in town’ on Monday.
Yours ever
The Perfumed Dandy.
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That sounds like a perfect Sunday, Mr. Dandy.
Dearest Lily
Oh, it was a lovely weekend generally. Meeting up with old friends in such a beautiful city,
Perfection!
Yours ever
The Perfumed Dandy
On of my old loves. Thanks for the great post, M. Dandy!
Dearest Biscuit
And of mine too! Though for some reason I keep forgetting about it until I go inside churches, then it’s beauty comes flooding back and I have to wear it!
Yours ever
The Perfumed Dandy
I haven’t tried this perfume (yet?) but it sounds very suited for your weekend.
Dearest U
It most certainly was. It is one of those fragrances – to which I am somewhat partial – that come just as described in the name.
This is church incense with a decidedly Provencal feel.
I have a feeling you might enjoy it.
Yours ever
The Perfumed Dandy
Dear Mr Dandy,
So glad you are writing about this. It is one of my favourites. It smells so exactly like the Thurible in High Mass, permeating all those ancient stone walls and wooden pews. I was blown away the first time I tried it. It stays the same and has great lasting power too. It is superb quality and doesn’t try to be anything other than what it says on the tin. Avignon was briefly the papal seat in the 14th century and it’s high on my wish list of Dream Cities to visit.
Avignon fact- prior to bringing out her own perfume, Sarah Jessica Parker used to layer Avignon, Bonne Bell Musk, and an Egyptian oil from a street vendor. Apparently everyone would comment on how good she smelled.
Your friend
IScent
Dearest Iscent
Now that is quite a fragrant fact… I’m trying to imagine SJP in such a combination!
As to Avignon… you simply must go.
I have been several times and visited the Palais des Papes on each occasion.
It is a great empty vessel resonant with history and heresy.
I also had one on the finest meals of my entire life in the CIty. We were on a veranda looking over the Palais, it came to rain… the hugely apologetic waiters seamlessly moved us inside. Once there the maitre d’ came to apologise for the climatological indiscretion but soothed us with the unforgettable words ‘of course by way of compensation we have this wonderful painted ceiling dating from the sixteenth century for you to gave upon’.
It was there, many years before Mr Blumenthal found fame that I had lobster and vanilla ice cream.
Bliss.
Yours ever
The Perfumed Dandy
Dear Mr Dandy,
What an incredible anecdote! It is now in my top three next to New York and Venice. I have had my best ever lunches in France too, but in Poitiers and Paris.
Avignon is now a must and no prizes for guessing how I will smell on that trip.
Your friend
IScent
Dearest Iscent
The other thing about Avignon is it is so close to many other places of interest… Aix, Orange, Uzes, Arles, Nimes even.
And the local scents… splendid!
Yours ever
The Perfumed Dandy