A search on Basenotes for fragrances with “Paris” in the title turns up 37 names. Sure, a few are Paris Hilton scents, but the rest are plays on the city itself: Yves Saint Laurent Paris, of course; but also Bourjois Evening in Paris and Springtime in Paris; Holzman & Stephanie La Parisienne, its male counterpart, Molinard Le Parisian, and the baby-faced Téo Cabanel Demoiselle de Paris; a couple of discontinued Guerlains, Paris-Gem and Chypre de Paris; the nearly forgotten, double-hitter Caron London Paris; and more.

Why is the idea of Paris so attractive to perfume companies? (Or to musicians, novelists, and filmmakers, for that matter?) Paris has more romance than, say, Sacramento, but the reality is that it's a big city with bad traffic, dirty air, poverty, racism, a high cost of living, and dog poop on the sidewalks. It's a myth that every corner café serves up homemade cassoulet and house wine from the owner's cousin's vineyard in Burgundy. You're more likely to end up with a pre-frozen pizza or an industrially fabricated croque monsieur. And not every Parisian woman is chic — or thin. I'm not saying that Paris should be a theme park with men in berets, but the amount of loud pink and green wallpaper in many a downscale Parisian hotel is alarming.

I say this, and yet I can't stay away…

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