London Smells

Today I went on a walking tour of London called London Smells. We started off at Rococo Chocolatiers in Motcomb Street where we had a coffee and a sample of thick hot chocolate, taking in the smells of the cocoa. Our tour guide was very interesting and had brought along a bag of 'smells' for us to sniff as we walked along, including horse manure, rotten fish, dill (used in bridal bouquets to smell nice), burnt wood and thick ale as these were the smells one would have experienced in London centuries ago.

We then went to Jermyn Street to visit Floris - my friend bought a very nice smelling after shave for her husband - the one that was used by the characterJames Bond (which was actually used by Ian Fleming). Then on we went to visit Avery Perfume Gallery in Mayfair where we were greeted with a free glass of prosecco (my kind of tour!) and got to smell the various fragrances. It was a tiny shop and I was beginning to feel quite light headed from the olfactory overload. We ended off the tour at Penhaglion's where I took this photo. A very knowledgeable member of staff went through all the various types of substances used as bases in perfumes - citrus, woody, floral, musk, sandalwood etc. By now my sense of smell was quite confused but amazingly after a glass of water it clears and one can smell again. I really liked the one called Empressa and interestingly many of the perfumes were unisex.
 
It was a very interesting day, smelling some beautiful perfumes in some of London's more salubrious shops that I have never visited before.