ALEXANDRIE
Lemony vapours bathed in bracing notes of mint, ginger and blackcurrant
On the onyx and jade incrusted tiles, a ray of moonlight cuts out the foliage of the lemon trees and the dance of the palms, gently rocking the evening warmth. The night’s torrent, rushing in, sends shivers through the blue menthol-scented
shade of the garden. Under the canopy, in the half-light, a curved blade and a
pair of steely eyes sparkle. 

ANNIBAL
Cedar, leather, cashmere wood and papyrus in a winter scent of crackling wood
The scent of pine needle fires, offered up to Tanit, was rising straight up to the stars, still visible through the forest’s canopy. In the wake of Annibal’s elephants, coated with white ochre, cold bluish patches of vapor and smoke came floating up from the embers extinguished by the fresh-fallen snow. The army crossed the last mountain pass in silence, in the icy and shimmering mountain dawn, shields and caparisons aglow from the silver rays of the early morning. 

CAMPAGNE D’ITALIE
Sun-soaked, delicate barks of bergamot and grapefruit mingle with the woody aromas of oak and cedar
Hints of leather, bark, earth, pine needles and summer-roasted leaves. The plains, white with sun and crisscrossed by scout honeybees, make for a blinding wait. In the warm shade of the woods, amid the thick silence of the oaks and cedars, the clatter of horses being harnessed, the impatience of restless hoofs, the glare of rifles before the charge. 

GÉNÉRAUX D'EMPIRE
Sweet rose, caressant rosemary and fresh blackcurrant
Laughter echoes through the hallways of castles, palaces and inns, through wide-open bedrooms, the atmosphere redolent with victory. On the floor: naked lovers, musical silks, crumpled dresses and uniforms, the velvet of roses and violets, flowers and fruit spilling out of overturned baskets. 

PATER MATEOS
A sea breeze carries the deep aromas of bergamot, lemon and rosewood
The green scent of wet grass, as raw as spring. On the prairie’s belly, clover flowers and hawthorns are shivering, as are the stems turned blue by the early morning. The sun drying the hedges; a spark amid the tall grasses lining the paths; the smoke of green wood fires. The soil comes up to the surface, and under the meadows’ back, runs the round spine of old granite hemmed by mosses, like so many slumbering herds, with dew rippling down their musk. 

RETOUR D'ÉGYPTE
A trail of hawthorn, jasmine, nutmeg, amber and vanilla
The sacred scent of ruins, of deserts peppered with tombs and columns buried under the millenary blows of the sun. In the alabaster vases and spun-glass vials, the petrified fragrance of amber and benzoin, of flowers and fossil woods, of ancient magic. 

SACRE
A perfume of wisdom on a frankincense base, where juniper is crowned by honey and pine.
The scent of coronations, a Gloria of juniper and honey, in the glare of stained-glass windows shot through with a bolt of winter sun. The golden threads in the wall-hangings spatter the ceremony of columns and vaults, the pious silence of ivory statues. In the damp nave, misty with frankincense and cold, the fragrance of olibanum and cedarwood cajoles the soul. 

SUMI HINOKI
Smoked woods of hinoki, cypress and cedar compose this ashy triptych with an intense character
Frankincense and the dark fire of sacred Hinoki wood under the summer rains of Shôno. The noble fragrance of flame charred temples, lacquered black with smoke, of cypress chests in which silks, swords and calligraphy scrolls slumber. In the green steam of cedar and camphorwood baths, near Tokaido’s Torii, images of the floating world anchor the rumble of the torrent and the flight of the autumn leaf.