Perfume, or Why I Love the French

I read mysteries and detective stories in my youth. In fact, I largely read them. Encyclopedia Brown, Trixie Belden, the Happy Hollisters, and of course our titian-haired Mademoiselle Drew. I had a book of short mysteries as well. The first story in this book involved a closet of clothes in the suspect’s home and the clue to the suspect was in this closet (at least I read this into the story . . . ). Hanging clothes, shoes, and accessories were listed and I was stumped. What in that closet pointed to a suspect? The answer was in fact the choice of colors hanging in the closet, which in turn leads to the woman’s hair color and skin tone. In short, fashion is telling.

My friend Scout limits herself to one scent at a time. When the perfume is gone, she can choose a new one. I am not so strict, though the idea of identifying a period of life by the scent one wears is appealing. A mystery query to our senses. I was Anaïs Anaïs in junior high. Now I am more expansive (schizophrenic): Light Blue, Fleur de Lotus, Gio, and Nirmala from Molinard are what I spray most often.

In my mind my clothes are red or pink. So, even when I wear an ensemble without red or pink, I choose red or pink in my mind and then select a scent. For example, I wore white shorts and a white and brown Indian tunic on Wednesday. That outfit was pink (I wore Nirmala). Blue is always my base color which teams with red or pink like a dream. So pink and red are the accents. Today I wore red cotton pants with a light grey long sleeved tee. My outfit was clearly red. I wore Fleur de Lotus. Gio is always red. Light Blue is always red. I don’t know what this means about me. As a youth I was told I was a Spring. Ho ho. The orange shirt and white skirt I wore last Sunday are pink. I sprayed Nirmala about 4 times. I love this one.

Occasionally, I wear the soft lily of the valley fragrance Diorissimo. Of course, it is a pink or light blue outfit. Sha from Alfred Sung is also pink. Lou Lou is red and blue. Allure is pink. My only ambidextrous scent is Fleur de Lotus. What versatility. It works with everything! I could be bald and say that pink is for the light scents and red is for the heavy scents but that is Scents for Dummies and incredibly stereotypical. My color designation has to do with the notes of the scent. Some would find Nirmala heavy. I love it’s headstrong pinkness. I fell in love with Poison long after it’s heydey. To me, Poison is always purple so I can’t buy it, owning no purple. I could never be accused of wearing deep purple. I reserve this for nobility or those who can wear deep purple. But, they could wear one of my red perfumes with it. I suggest Lou Lou, a deep, base composition that is always Belgian in my mind.

Share Your Table

I returned to San Diego with a suitcase of twice worn outfits, the urge to read Year of Wonders, find potato gnocchetti at Trader Joe’s, buy anything red, watch Casino Royale, make magnets, and organize my shoes. That is what great people do for you. Susie, Rachel B, and I spent a never to be forgotten three days in Washington together. We covered Seattle, Olympia, and the Olympic peninsula braving wind and rain. At Pike Place we ate melting macaroni and cheese (Beecher’s Handmade Cheese), French pastries, mini hot doughnuts. Needless to say, it was gourmand. We dined at Café Flora (vegetarian), Rosey’s on Rogers, and Aqua Verde. The euro hot chocolate at Trophy: Cupcakes and Party was 3 ounces of Wonka bliss. I ate a gorgeous coconut cupcake and Susie chose a lemony flower. Ahh, confections.

I stopped first in the Bay Area for quality time with bakeries, restaurants, public transit. Thrilling. I visited Chez Panisse, Tartine Bakery, Zuni Café. In the Ferry Market Building there was The Slanted Door (modern Vietnamese), Miette Pâtisserie, Cowgirl Creamery, and Lulu Petite. There was the de Young Museum, Golden Gate Bridge, Sausalito, and Muir Woods. It was my first foray to Marin, land of MFK Fisher and Skywalker folk. I will describe it as woodsy countryside with coastline. I kept half a round of cheese in my handbag for much of this visit along with 16 lbs of change from transit machines. The best thing at Tartine (not including the strong croissant) is the rocher. Now you know. Take advantage of this.

On my next visit to this region I will hit Point Reyes, the SF Center for the Book, SF MOMA, and more restaurants and bakeries. You can see I could easily be helicoptered in. On a subsequent visit to Washington I will pluck and eat blackberries.

It was a sumptuous occasion: rich in friends and nourishment. Rachel B. gathered oysters for a stew on Sunday night. She taught Susie and I how to shuck them and we supped at 11 pm after our day up and down the peninsula. We visited the co-op where she volunteers to package cheese once a week. It is a greener city. At Tartine, I drank hot chocolate and ate a croissant at a large kitchen table with studying students, a laptop user, and a newspaper. The laptop user kindly offered me the other half of his scone. Had I not been stuffed to the gills, I would have conceded.