Trafalgar and French Perfumery Fragonard create the La Belle Vie travel fragrance
A FRAGRANCE JUST FOR TRAVELERS
Trafalgar’s brand philosophy is connecting its guests to The Good Life. So the fragrance is named La Belle Vie, which is the French equivalent. Through this perfume, Trafalgar guests can continue to connect to The Good Life, long after their journey has ended.
​
“When one travels all five senses are used, but the sense that stands out the most is smell,” says Gavin Tollman, Trafalgar’s CEO. “It instantly transports us back to moments in time. It connects us to places and reignites special memories, and we wanted to celebrate this core connection to travel”.
MEMORIES OF TRAVEL IN A PERFUME
Just one inhalation and all the joy and wonder of an amazing experience can come flooding back. The olfactory bulb, which connects your nose with your brain, passing through the two areas of the brain housing emotion and memory, is responsible for this.
​
The senses of sight, sound and touch do not make contact with these areas of the brain, so they don’t easily evoke the kind of intense memory and emotion that scent can.
TRAVELING TO GRASSE
For a fragrant travel experience, travelers can visiting the Medieval-era Grasse, hidden in the hills north of Cannes.
​
The town is the perfume capital of the world. It’s home to the world’s leading fragrance houses. In fact, the flowers used to create Marilyn Monroe’s favourite scent, Chanel No.5, are grown and harvested here.
​
Today, travellers can still watch the time-honoured French tradition of local women picking rose, lavender, myrtle and wild mimosa in seemingly endless fields.
The legacies of perfume, scent and travel are deeply rooted in the hearts of the locals in Grasse.
​
“When you smell something, you are already travelling; travelling in your mind, travelling in the flower fields,” says Agnes Webster, CEO of the House of Fragonard.
ABOUT THE FRAGONARD PERFUMERY
Fragonard has been a family-run business since 1926, when entrepreneur Eugène Fuchs decided to establish a perfumery in Grasse. He sold his perfumes directly to the tourists who were starting to discover the tourist attractions of the French Riviera.
​
The perfumery was named after the Grasse-born 18th-century painter Jean-Honoré Fragonard. The name was a tribute to the town and to Fuchs’ dedication to arts and heritage. The business eventually passed into the hands of Fuchs’ grandson, Jean-François Costa and his wife, Hélène. His three daughters run the business today, including perfume museums in Eze and Paris. Agnes is at the helm of the perfume empire as CEO.
​
Travel and fragrance have always been deeply intertwined for her. She said: “For me perfume is travel. Smell follows you. Perfume is part of yourself, it follows you all over the world.”
CREATING LA BELLE VIE THE FRAGRANCE
For Trafalgar, it was an obvious choice to partner with Fragonard.
​
“When we first met with Agnes to talk about how we would further enrich our guests’ experiences, it quickly became obvious that by co-crafting La Belle Vie we would be able to offer a tangible way to unlock rich travel memories” adds Tollman.
​
“The perfumer/nose took inspiration from a scented flower when crafting La Belle Vie,” says Webster. “Once used a love potion in ancient times, the scent is indicative of the love affair of travel… inspired by the natural environment in which the flower grows.”
HOW TO BUY LA BELLE VIE
La Belle Vie the Fragrance for both men and women is available exclusively for Trafalgar guests travelling through France, on itineraries visiting Paris, Eze and Grasse.
​
For guests travelling on the brand’s Paris Explorer trip, the brand offers an included insider experience at Fragonard’s Paris headquarters. An official Fragonard ‘nose’ will unlock the history and secrets of perfume.
HOW TO CREATE YOUR OWN FRAGRANCE
Guests can then get ‘hands-on’ and ‘mix-and-match’ three components of the La Belle Vie fragrance to create their own to take with them.
​
Trafalgar offers guests a multi-dimensional travel experience. It helps deliver travel moments that open up a destination like no other brand can offer. Guests will discover at a grassroots level how choosing Trafalgar is making a genuine and visible impact to people and the places they visit.
ABOUT THE JOINTRAFALGAR EXPERIENCES
Through JoinTrafalgar experiences, travellers support UNESCO World Heritage Listed Sites on 63% of trips. The itineraries are also planned to encourage tourism dispersal, and to ensure more people go beyond the iconic attractions.​
​
Trafalgar has also announced 100% Definite Departures for its 2019 Europe & Britain summer season to allow travellers peace of mind when booking their holidays.