The Fragonard Museum: The temple of perfume
In 1926, Eugène Fuchs bought a small artisanal perfumery from the pretty town of Grasse, the capital of perfume. The perfumery takes the name in homage to Jean-Honoré Fragonard, son of the Perfumer glover from Grasse. Today, Fragonard brings together 3 factories, six museums, 20 boutiques and remains the property of the family.
Perhaps, because the world of finance has stayed away from this company it does not really deploy marketing but offers a generous and passionate content both in the bottle and on the path that brings us to it.
In September 2015, Fragonard opened a new museum in the old Eden-Theater, built in the early 1880s. This space, which includes a large collection of 3,000 items on 21,528 sq.ft. as well as a showroom for sale, is located 5 minutes walk from the Relais Madeleine and deserves a visit.
The Fragonard house presents here some of its secrets in an industrial atmosphere evoking that of a perfume factory of the early twentieth century and respecting perfectly the architectural heritage of this Eiffel building: Moldings in stucco, neo-classical columns, metal beams, cobblestones of glass, walls of brick and very beautiful canopy.
A true cabinet of curiosities
The history of perfume begins in Egypt where major perfume factories existed in Alexandria. The perfumes were then used for worship as is still incense in Christian religions.
5000 years of history of perfumery are told: Egyptian khôl pots, Greek aryballos, lekythos, pomanders, perfume burners, precious bottles with unusual shapes, travel boxes... are beautifully staged with a didactic scenography punctuated by small cinematographic sequences staging Cleopatra or Marie Antoinette.
You can see large copper stills and they explain the techniques of distillation to obtain the essential oil. You will discover that distillation is not the only technique for extracting perfume. You will learn that the animal raw materials, now replaced by synthetic products, were also used in the manufacture of perfume (amber, musk, castoreum, etc.)
The apprentice perfumer workshop
Would you like to play the role of apprentice perfumer? You can, during a workshop where you can create a scent by making your own cologne. This hour-and-a-half workshop is run by a perfumery professional and takes place in a real classroom.
The program includes:
- Materials and essences - The organ of the perfumer
- The olfactory pyramid - Top notes, heart notes and dry-down notes
- Olfactory memory
- Customizing a cologne with 9 essences
The apprentice perfumer will leave with his or her creation contained in a 100ml bottle.
€ 95 per person, from 12 years old. Duration: 2.5 hours guided tour of the museum included. French and English languages.
Booking: https://www.fragonard.com/en/atelier
Discover Fragonard products
Fragonard product prices are not burdened by unbridled marketing because they have not adopted the classic codes of the cosmetics sector. Perfumes, body care, soaps, scents, gifts are presented and offered at very affordable prices.
Finally, customers of Relais Madeleine receive a 10% discount on their purchase.
Musée du parfum
Book in advance to get the best rate.
Payment 50% of the stay at reservation, cancelation without penalty 20 days before your arrival date.
Additional City Tax will be collected by the hotel upon check out
In case of invalid credit card, the hotel may cancel the booking,
Available only on our website
Modifiable by phone +33(0)1.47.42.22.40 or by mail contact@relaismadeleine.fr 1 day before the arrival date (24H)
Cancellable without penalty 2 days before the arrival date (48h)
Additional City Tax will be collected by the hotel upon check out
In case of invalid credit card, the hotel may cancel the booking,
If you want to offer this trip we invite you to contact us after booking
Additional City Tax will be collected by the hotel upon check out
In case of invalid credit card, the hotel may cancel the booking,