I was born in the South of France but I grew up, and still live, in Paris. So many of my first memories relate to the smell of wet stone after the rain. As a child, my parents would take me to the Parc de Bagatelle, at the heart of the Bois de Boulogne (one of Paris’s four botanical gardens, created in 1775), or to the Jardin du Luxembourg on the weekends. The latter is particularly great for kids as there is a lake where you can float toy boats.

— Read more in Postcard from Paris - A guide to the city by Chanel perfumer Oliver Polge at Condé Nast Traveller.

His desk is precisely as you’d expect – handwritten notes and branches of blotters jut out from short metal stands, surrounded by boxes brimming with collections of indecipherably labelled small glass bottles. In each, he explains, is an ongoing experiment; constantly evolving concoctions which, he hopes, will one day lead him to another perfect perfume.

— Perfumer Olivier Polge of Chanel talks to The Guardian. Read more in Smell of success: How Chanel No 5 gained a sprinkling of stardust.