Report: What I Did On My Summer Spring Vacation

Would you travel over 5,000 miles to met someone you have only met on a perfume board? Well I did and it was a wonderful experience. Sometimes you just know you are going to hit it off with someone. And of course we had been corresponding and talking on the phone for quite some time. Maybe when she invited me to come stay with her, she thought I wouldn't come, but surprise! My hubby has been very travel oriented since our trip to Paris and he's game for any new adventure where he can take photos. Umm ... over 1300 to be exact.

I had an absolutely wonderful time. The weather was so perfect. In the 70's, not too hot so no coat to drag around, it was just perfect.

I actually met two people from the Perfume Of Life Board. Our first stop was Amsterdam. We were there for two days exploring the city and I met with the lovely Vidabo from POL for lunch at the Cafe Luxembourg. What was to be just lunch turned into a full afternoon of perfume talk and shopping. She took me to Skins a great little perfumerie I might not have found otherwise. There I tried the Mona di Orio's and a few others that escape me right now. But I didn't buy anything. The candy shop she took me to, Puccini Bomboni, was another story. I'm still dreaming of those luscious cranberry dark chocolates.

Next I met with Dutchmilk, and of course we hit it off immediately also. She is also pretty, funny and multilingual, speaking six languages and managing to charm in every one of them. She was a gracious hostess traveling around with us and offering us a room at her house. A nice bonus was that our hubbies hit it off too, sometimes staying up to talk after we had crashed and went to bed.

We saw many cities: Amsterdam, Boskoop, Leiden, Antwerp, Duesseldorf & Cologne. And a few small cities in between.
It's good to be home, but I'm tired and trying to get rested before I have to return to work. I missed you all!

I smelled a lot of perfumes while on vacation. So, so many, maybe too many. I can't seem to remember them all, it is a blur. I tried many Summer editions that left me unimpressed.

I failed to find my Cuir Amethyste. They didn't have it at the Armani boutique in Duesseldorf, however down the street at the Douglas, they did have it but were sold out.

I bought 8 new scents. Only a few are exclusive to Europe;

The new Guerlain AA Kiwi - Now that I am back, I see this has been released here and is everywhere. But I did like it, so I bought it. The berry one was not as good.

A new summer scent from Rance called Musc Blanc - very nice. A clean fresh scent.

L'Or Rouge - I have never seen this here in the states, but an eBay search shows it it readily available. The small size bottle was adorable, I couldn't resist.

Kenzo Le Parfum Parfum oil - I have the Flower Le Parfum so this chance to get the parfum was too good to pass up.

Lou Lou - Ok, I thought this was discontinued, but there it was, fresh on the shelf, so I bought a small size.

L'Instant Iris - While looking for L'Instant Noel, I found this which I believe is the same thing, but I could be wrong. I think it was a special edition for Christmas that was so popular they repackaged it.

Aigner Too Feminine - There were several Aigner fragrances I have never seen or heard of. This one is the newest.

Caline - Caline is made by Parfums Gres in Paris. Fresh grapefruit and musk.

Since we have more scoop on new fragrances then they do, I only heard of one new release; a new Etro coming soon - a rose.

Vidabo was wearing Bandit, and although I previously thought I didn't like it, I have since changed my mind. She was so kind as let me make a sample and I will be trying that again later this week. I think I'm going to end up with another purchase. :O)

And of course I also raided Dutchmilk's stash for a few decants. Most notable was DKNY Woman. We both love it and the new summer edition is very nice too.

Some more pictures to follow soon and some perfume reviews.