the scent of a memory.

coucou!

on my morning metro walk

bundled up in my trench coat,
(i love fall!)

vintage red scarf tied around my neck,

and brown boots hugging my ankles

i started to contemplate something.

turning the street corner,

i caught a whiff of a mens cologne,

and i was instantly transported back to october 2000.

walking down the hallways of marian high school

trying to find a place in the crowd

but not wanting to get too comfortable

our family was right on the brink of a big move

i've encountered that smell several times since then

a mix of cologne and aftershave 

it reminds me of anticipation and uncertainty

make believe confidence and new beginnings.

smells have a way of attaching themselves to things.

the first one i remember
in nantes, france

was butter.

huge, sweet clouds of butter that seemed to permeate the town

...or at least the street i lived on,

a patisserie somewhere close by.

years afterwards,
it always makes me think of early mornings,
walking to class, hopping on the tram.
ipod in ears, parapluie above my head, french books in tow.

a step out of the apartment 

onto a new street.

the smell of paris to me

is a combination of many things.

you'll laugh when you hear

that i have been searching for a certain perfume for years.

years.

it's the one i smell on parisian city streets
a sweet flowery feminine smell.
there's a elegance and nonchalance to the perfume
all swirled into one.

and don't think i haven't searched for it.
i've spritzed countless perfumes on my wrists
and sometimes even think i've got it
but then later, it's just not quite right.

en fait, maybe it's the elusiveness
that makes this perfume
one of my favorite scents.

all this was part of the
metro morning walk
and the wonder,
what does montreal smell like?
what will make me think of this time in my life,
years later?

do you ever wonder about that?
what are the most powerful smells in your life?

happy weekend!

alli

photo