L'Ombre des Merveilles Hermès 2020

My better half and I enjoy vacationing away from the hustle and bustle and too many people. Some time ago, we found ourselves at the Dutch North Sea coast, in a small former watchman's house in a fort. Now, this was not a medieval fort, but one from the Napoleonic era, complemented by more recent concrete improvements, giving it a rather rugged charm. However, this did not detract from the special tranquility that this place radiated, especially at night; on the contrary. The fort was relatively isolated on the edge of a village with a view of the stormy North Sea and a long beach.

So my husband and I rented it for a few days and received, along with the key to our watchman's house, the keys to the entire grounds of the fort, including the observation platform. During the day, the grounds and the associated museum were open for a few hours for the few visitors who wandered there during the cold off-season. For the rest of the day and at night, we had the whole fort to ourselves. We strolled around the grounds at dusk, watched seagulls and sunsets, and sat late in the evening, bundled up with a thermos full of tea on the observation platform, gazing at the stars and listening to the sea, which could only be sensed in the darkness of the night. Besides the sound of the sea, we were surrounded only by silence and wind.

It is exactly this atmosphere that L'Ombre des Merveilles captures for me. It smells of lonely, starry nights, of the sea, of cool autumn air, while also conveying warmth, tranquility, and security. For me, it is primarily a tea scent, as the black tea stands out very clearly, and I also detect a slight citrus note. The frankincense noted in the fragrance notes, which had long kept me from giving the scent a chance, I can smell distinctly but gently, and together with a slight sweetness (probably from the tonka bean), I surprisingly like it a lot.
I am truly glad that this fragrance found its way to me through a swap with a dear perfumista! It now brings me back at any time to the quiet, peaceful moments on the observation platform of this fort, which was originally not intended for peaceful times, lending a certain irony and a bit of hope to the whole experience.

I wish you all such an observation platform, especially now in these times.
Don't forget to look at the stars!

Happy holidays and a happy new year 2025!