When visiting Grasse, it is necessary to deal with the subject of "perfume". Not just for the sake of the subject, but because otherwise the understanding of the place through which you walk or drive remains closed. As always, everything is connected to everything else, and the development of the city is inextricably intertwined with the development of fragrances. After a while I had the feeling as if the history, the past of the city and the region reaches continuously and without breaks to the present and is just there as a matter of course.
History in brief
1747
Founded in 1747, Parfumerie Galimard is one of the first French perfume houses. Jean de Galimard, Lord of Seranon and member of the guild of glove makers and perfumers, supplied olive oil, pomades and perfumes to the court of the "beloved" Louis XV, from which he developed the first recipes.
1920 - 1940
In the maritime Alpine lowlands of Grasse, Siméon Roux, a veteran of World War 1, grows the precious orange blossoms and jasmine for the main perfumeries of Grasse.
1950
Chemical engineer Joseph Roux spends his childhood in his father Siméon's flower fields: this is where the idea of creating a distillery in Gourdon, a medieval village above Grasse, near his father's flower fields, was born. This will bear the name "La Source Parfumée". At this time, he opens a perfumery in the mansion of the Count of Thorenc in the heart of the old town of Grasse. Thus, Joseph revives the history of Jean de Galimard.
1965
Joseph, assisted by his wife Marie-Jeanne, opens a boutique on the prestigious Cours Honoré Cresp on the first floor of Grasse's magnificent town casino.
1980s
Jean-Pierre Roux, son of Joseph and Marie Jeanne, continues the family tradition and decides to reveal the secrets of perfume to the many visitors who come to the region. Inaugurated in 1980, the factory-museum (on the Cannes road) introduces visitors to the world of perfumes and to the know-how of the perfume industry of Grasse. Galimard opened a new factory in 1986, also consisting of a traditional soap factory, in the picturesque medieval village of Éze.
1996
Galimard, with the concept of Perfume Creation Atelier, since 1996, presents to the public the art of perfume creation, until then a closely guarded secret.
2007
Galimard opens its latest Studio des Fragrances in the village square of the picturesque medieval village of Éze.
Perfumers and perfume assistants share the secrets of their wonderful profession with their experience and passion, opening a door for visitors into the world of Jean de Galimard's fragrances.
