Ever wondered what Napoleon smelled like? Or what perfume the Romans wore to dinner?

The answers lie at The Osmotheque — a fragrance conservatory in Versailles, France that collects, catalogues and recreates perfumes of the past.

Many of the 1,700 fragrances are reproduced from the original formulas.

Correspondent Susan Stone of NPR goes to the Osmotheque and talks to its founder, Jean Kerléo. Kerléo was also the house nose for Jean Patou from 1967 until 1998, a period that saw the release of such fragrance classics as Sublime and 1000.

Access the sound file for the NPR story here. Related reading: a background article in Osmoz about the Osmotheque.