The town of Grasse is situated about 15 miles north of that cosmopolitan resort of Cannes and is the centre of perfume production in France. The production of perfume started here in the 17th century and has continued to date with a number of the famous names in perfume still offering tours of their production processes to allow visitors an insight into exactly what has to happen to make a great perfume.
Of course, the availability of raw materials is a vital first step and the hills around Grasse right across to Menton near the Italian border supply the basic raw material, which is an oil made from the blossom of a certain type of orange tree. It is said that it takes a 100 kilos of blossom (bit fruit!) to make 1 kilo of the basic oil, so you can imagine the amount of orange blossom that needs to be harvested to feed the industry.
