12/31/2024
ElAttarine
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Fog - without any inkling of what is to come..
... nothing can be heard except the paddles plunging into the water and the falling drops. When it's as foggy as today, the wind also holds its breath and the water is completely still. All my senses are heightened, but there is nothing to see except your figure in the mist in front of me, rowing us both through our bay in a small wooden boat. With such reduced stimuli, my sense of smell becomes particularly alert, and I smell the green spicy herbs growing in the summer meadows above us, along with the fluffy soft water mint. Somewhere in the farm gardens, someone must also have carnations and lavender in bloom. And the salty, humid air in my nose, the way the mist mixes with the sea moisture, and from the seaweed and brown algae that lie everywhere along the coastline. Somewhere, a fire from last night is still smoldering, mixing delicate remnants of smoke into the humidity. I imagine the water getting deeper and deeper beneath us as the bay opens up and we row out into the sound. Here the sea seems vast and huge, and I think of enormous sea creatures that must be somewhere below us.
I'm not afraid, not even out here in the thick fog, because I trust you completely. My father. A trust like a beautiful deep sweetness that carries and surrounds me.
-----
My father was born in 1938 - just like "Brumes" by Le Galion. A very special fragrance then and still today: after a brief aldehyde opening, green-fresh, minty, ethereal herbs come first. I'm thrilled that my bottle didn't suffer from this phase. Neil Chapman writes on his blog "The Black Narcissus" that time must have "taken its toll on his. The intensely green, herbaceous opening of the fragrance, which is said to contain thyme, marjoram and a whole kitchen cabinet of other green things, has evaporated [...]. Still, I would have liked to have smelled it as it was originally intended, how these fresh green notes developed together with the maritime, floral notes." These fresh green minty-ethereal notes are still very much there with me, the fragrance is still alive! And it has so much to tell...
It soon becomes even spicier, I notice clove and nutmeg, later also seaweed and algae, and finally salty, damp and slightly smoky real ambergris. I have never smelled ambergris like this before. It must have been a sensation at the time. There is another layer of delicate florals on top, definitely broom, and the usual slightly powdery floral blend in vintage fragrances, in which I can't smell a single flower. There's also some herbaceous lavender wafting in from somewhere, and the herbal green becomes tarragon-like and grassy. Of all these layers, I can sometimes perceive one, sometimes the other more strongly, so it lasts for several hours until the delicately smoky, spicy ambergris remains. At the end (after 9-10 hours), it gives me a wonderful, deep sweetness that is only found in very special fragrances.
-----
"Brumes" was the world's first attempt at a seaside or, as Chapman writes, at least "panoramic" fragrance: it was intended to reflect the scent and atmosphere of the French coastal area and beaches. It is a calm, melancholic and reflective fragrance, multi-layered, delicate, dreamy and yet spicy, at the same time expressing for me deep confidence in the mist.
With the hints of clove and nutmeg, Brumes could be read as the brother of "Old Spice", which also appeared in 1938 and yet is completely different. It may also be a counterpart to Caron's "En Avion" (1929) and Guerlain's "Vol de Nuit" (1933). I find this exciting in terms of contemporary history: in 1938, a fragrance that is not about flying but about traveling by ship in the fog... it is unclear where from and where to...
------
And so, for me, the topic of trust and the future comes full circle - today on the eve of the Old Year. Uncertain times are ahead, as they have not been for a long time. Also on a personal level: my father has come through several serious operations and treatments well over the past year, and we want to celebrate his birthday in January. Reason for gratitude.
Weightless
without a premonition of what is to come [...]
i want to live you
my life
want to feel you
even if you sometimes stab me
and blood runs over my soul
[
But there can be love
this life
Scatter confidence
like stardust
into the darkness of hell
[
A hope lingers
against the horizon
of dissolving dreams
They guide the step
into the new year
with a groping attitude
and hovering caution
[...] (Claus Eurich)
It lives in the fog, just waiting to awaken. And we can remind each other of it.
I wish you all a Happy New Year and all the best for the New Year 2025!
-----
Description in Neil Chapman's blog (translation by me):
https://theblacknarcissus.com/
2018/05/08/brumes-by-le-galion-1939/
With many thanks to Can777 for this deal! I gave him the kiss from you when I released him. He has a deep, old soul.
I'm not afraid, not even out here in the thick fog, because I trust you completely. My father. A trust like a beautiful deep sweetness that carries and surrounds me.
-----
My father was born in 1938 - just like "Brumes" by Le Galion. A very special fragrance then and still today: after a brief aldehyde opening, green-fresh, minty, ethereal herbs come first. I'm thrilled that my bottle didn't suffer from this phase. Neil Chapman writes on his blog "The Black Narcissus" that time must have "taken its toll on his. The intensely green, herbaceous opening of the fragrance, which is said to contain thyme, marjoram and a whole kitchen cabinet of other green things, has evaporated [...]. Still, I would have liked to have smelled it as it was originally intended, how these fresh green notes developed together with the maritime, floral notes." These fresh green minty-ethereal notes are still very much there with me, the fragrance is still alive! And it has so much to tell...
It soon becomes even spicier, I notice clove and nutmeg, later also seaweed and algae, and finally salty, damp and slightly smoky real ambergris. I have never smelled ambergris like this before. It must have been a sensation at the time. There is another layer of delicate florals on top, definitely broom, and the usual slightly powdery floral blend in vintage fragrances, in which I can't smell a single flower. There's also some herbaceous lavender wafting in from somewhere, and the herbal green becomes tarragon-like and grassy. Of all these layers, I can sometimes perceive one, sometimes the other more strongly, so it lasts for several hours until the delicately smoky, spicy ambergris remains. At the end (after 9-10 hours), it gives me a wonderful, deep sweetness that is only found in very special fragrances.
-----
"Brumes" was the world's first attempt at a seaside or, as Chapman writes, at least "panoramic" fragrance: it was intended to reflect the scent and atmosphere of the French coastal area and beaches. It is a calm, melancholic and reflective fragrance, multi-layered, delicate, dreamy and yet spicy, at the same time expressing for me deep confidence in the mist.
With the hints of clove and nutmeg, Brumes could be read as the brother of "Old Spice", which also appeared in 1938 and yet is completely different. It may also be a counterpart to Caron's "En Avion" (1929) and Guerlain's "Vol de Nuit" (1933). I find this exciting in terms of contemporary history: in 1938, a fragrance that is not about flying but about traveling by ship in the fog... it is unclear where from and where to...
------
And so, for me, the topic of trust and the future comes full circle - today on the eve of the Old Year. Uncertain times are ahead, as they have not been for a long time. Also on a personal level: my father has come through several serious operations and treatments well over the past year, and we want to celebrate his birthday in January. Reason for gratitude.
Weightless
without a premonition of what is to come [...]
i want to live you
my life
want to feel you
even if you sometimes stab me
and blood runs over my soul
[
But there can be love
this life
Scatter confidence
like stardust
into the darkness of hell
[
A hope lingers
against the horizon
of dissolving dreams
They guide the step
into the new year
with a groping attitude
and hovering caution
[...] (Claus Eurich)
It lives in the fog, just waiting to awaken. And we can remind each other of it.
I wish you all a Happy New Year and all the best for the New Year 2025!
-----
Description in Neil Chapman's blog (translation by me):
https://theblacknarcissus.com/
2018/05/08/brumes-by-le-galion-1939/
With many thanks to Can777 for this deal! I gave him the kiss from you when I released him. He has a deep, old soul.
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