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By William Underhill
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Think of grasse and flare your nostrils. Every ancient city boasts its own distinctive smell; Grasse has thousands. For more than 200 years, the hilltop community perched above France's Mediterranean coast has lived on its skill at concocting new fragrances to sweeten daily life.
This is where the art of parfumerie meets the demands of big business in a blend of antiquity and exclusivity. A 13th-century cathedral towers over an old quarter of twisting streets--but the city is ringed with factories turning out products for the global scent market. The world capital of the perfume industry, just inland from the glitzy resorts of the Cote d'Azur, is home to some 30 companies, brewing scents for the grandest of designers from Chanel and Givenchy to Dior and Jean-Paul Gaultier.
Grasse's perfume industry can trace its origins to the 16th century, when local tanners needed powerful scents to overcome the natural smell of their leather gloves. Happily the region's sun-soaked soil could provide the raw materials: jasmine and lavender. Since then, the scent business has reached far into the city's everyday life. Among the best-known delicacies: fougassette , brioche flavored with orange blossom.
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Much of the business remains in the hands of a few venerable companies, often family owned, and still inhabiting elegant premises in the city center. The oldest, Galimard, was founded in 1747. Such firms still depend on the skill of their "noses," specialists who have completed seven years of training so thorough that they can recognize 1,000 different fragrances.
Keen to see how your favorite scent is mixed? The three leading companies, Galimard ( galimard.com ), Fragonard ( fragonard.com ) and Molinard ( molinard.com ), all offer tours of their workshops. Company stores sell their own-label soaps and perfumes at discounts. For the truly choosy, Galimard and Molinard will also create a mix-and-match perfume to suit your personality for 35 euro a bottle.
If you need a place to stay, try the Bastide Saint Mathieu, a converted farmhouse on the edge of town, for Old World elegance ( hotel-bastide-saint-mathieu-grasse.cote.azur.fr/ ).
For a pilot, nothing is more important than keeping a cool head and steady hand in a crisis situation, whether it's wake turbulence, an overbanked turn or an advanced stall. In no time, you might find yourself flying upside down, the grass above you and the sky below. What to do? Don't panic; an aerobatics flying class will teach you everything you need to know. "It's amazing," says John Homrok, a former aerobatics instructor. "After only a three- to five-hour course, pilots' confidence levels improve. They go from being an airplane driver to an airplane flier." Most courses start with a ground school in aerodynamics. Then, fasten your seat belts! Guided by an instructor, you'll start out with a few rolls and a loop. Before long, you're tackling spins, hammerheads and Cuban eights, and even flying inverted. Conquer the skies at:
Aero Club Milano. This Italian flight school offers training at an hourly rate, depending on the plane and type of instruction. You can also get certified to perform certain stunts (12 hours for 4,000 euro; aero clubmilano.it/en/costi ).
Aerial Advantage Aviation. This New Hampshire school offers a $1,975 basic aerobatics course, which includes 10 hours in the air. Students solo and do an aerobatic routine that includes competition spins ($1,975; aerial-advantage.com ).
FCI Training. Courses at this scenic Arizona school focus on emergency maneuvers, upset recovery and spin recovery ($649-$3,414; fcitraining.com ).
Victoria Flying Club. This school in British Columbia offers emergency maneuvers and aerobatic training using a Citabria KCAB ($173 per hour; flyvfc.com ).
While cruise companies trip over themselves to construct ever larger ships, discriminating consumers are beginning to recognize that the ideal vacation vessel need not replicate a crowded metropolis. Some of the most enjoyable experiences are found on new, smaller, more personal ships. Celebrity Cruises offers the Xpedition ship, which takes 98 guests--along with 64 crew members who attend to their every need--on a once-in-a-lifetime trip through the Galapagos ( celebrity.com ). And easyCruise, the brainchild of British entrepreneur Stelios, unveiled easyCruiseOne this year. It holds 170 passengers and travels through the French and Italian Riviera or the Caribbean ( easycruise.com ).
For style snobs headed to Asia, there's only one guidebook: "Luxe City Guides," reported by trendspotters and published by Hong Kong-based former actor Grant Thatcher. The line recently expanded to include such cities as Melbourne, Chiang Mai and Dubai ($7.50 each; luxecityguides.com ). A sampling of tips:
Beijing: Tailor Botao Haute Couture. "Take one part Galliano, one part Donatella, throw in a sniff of McQueen and a squeeze of Westwood."
Ho Chi Minh City: Restaurant Quan An Ngon. "It's like Pamela Anderson's bra in here, big and packed."
Phuket: Restaurant Oriental Spoon. "You can... get liquored up, then zip around the pool for lazy cocktails and foamy frolics."
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