Aroma of Righteousness: “Grands Boulevards” 100ML Fragrance “For Him” Bought at 47 Pass. Jouffroy, 75009 Paris, France, June 9th, 2025… and other olfactory experiences abroad.

Green speaks on the power of scent and the memory it can conjure, the surreal experiences it can create. Smell has always been something I’ve been quite privy too— whether it be a pleasant or putrid one, headache inducing or heart warming, I crave the experience of linking something to a scent.

One summer a handful of years ago (it was June of 2025…) I had the opportunity to take a week in Paris after a study abroad semester in Japan. Where my memory fails me, my experience in the olfactory department does not. Mainly because I bought fragrances in both locations that I constantly sniff, but that’s besides the point.

Let me go over some of these scents, the good and bad, and put what Green discusses to real life experiences:

Philosopher's Path, Kyoto, Japan. April 5th, 2025:

On this day I decided to take a stroll down a historic path many have dubbed "Philosopher's Path.” I think it has something to do with how many great artists, writers, creatives, etc, have walked this same path and have garnered great inspiration from this walkway. However, my main motivations for choosing this specific path were, simply put, the cherry blossoms were almost fully sprout and I wanted to see as many as I could. The smell of the cherry blossoms themselves along with the other blooming flowers that were peppered throughout the path, restaurants, and shops burning incense and other similar fragrances,  all came together in this delicious, multi-layered swirl of smell. The fresh earth combined with a perfume shop along the pathway, mingling and meeting the steam of food cooking— just reminiscing on this I feel like I can put myself back there, astral project almost.

Wet GU Bag Afflicted from the Rain on Walk Back to Dorms, Hirakata, Osaka, Japan. April 10th, 2025:

I hate the smell of wet bags. Anything of paper nature and dampness do not jive for me. April 10th was no different. I had done some shopping at a nearby mall (there was an ongoing sale for socks— 3 for 500/yen, or about $3-4— how could I pass that up?) and had forgotten to check the weather on the way back. Downpour right as I stepped foot after securing my awesome new socks. I tried as hard as I could to protect my paper GU bag but alas, it got wet. The smell of a wet paper bag is almost dog-like, animalic in a bizarre way. Too earthy and smells way too much like dirt for my likening. There’s always a subtle sweetness to it once it’s dampened… Nothing spiritual about this smell, just disdain. 

Perfumed Air at Mii-Dera Temple, Otsu, Shima, Japan. May 6th, 2025:

This olfactory experience is one that defines my semester in Japan. No other scent can come close to the pure serenity this one carries. The morning before going to this temple, it had rained, priming the earth for that petrichor smell, but combined with the spring humidity of Japan and the array of freshly bloomed flowers, the air genuinely smelt like perfume. Moist, emulsified, and floating at every turn, the air had become more than something I was breathing in, out, I was ascending to some place beyond this realm. No matter where I was in the temple or the accompanying pathways, it felt like I was walking through the most subtly sweet, thick, tasteful floral perfume ever.

The Wet Pennies Incident, Hirakata, Osaka, Japan. January 28th, 2025:

Much like the GU bag, I seem to not like many scents that have a more dirt-like effect. I’ll keep this one brief, as it still disturbs me. My dorm neighbor had a smell that emanated from his door, about a half foot by half foot radius to be exact. Somehow this did not break its containment, but I could still smell it regardless. Think of warm, wet pennies. His half foot by half foot aroma smelt like warm, wet pennies. I do not know how this is humanly possible. But I digress. I can still smell it in my mind’s nose. 

My Magnus Opus of Personal Fragrance, Paris, France. June 9th, 2025:

Like the perfumed air, the scent of this fragrance stuck with me. So much so that I bought it. Warm and slightly musky citrus, I have found, is my go to scent. Oh so yummy. I want to be able to put this scent into a bottle that will make it last forever. I will be ascending into the astral plane AKA Paris, France whenever I run out— which I hope is not soon, but also in the upcoming future, I miss Paris. 

Parisian Perfume Museum, Paris, France. June 7th, 2025:

This museum was one of the first places I went to after I knocked out after arriving in Paris. Overwhelming, yes, but almost in a good way. It’s one thing to see history in a museum but to smell it, and then be able to smell modern perfume in its gift shop after? Omg yum.