Molinard bastide · Grasse
Choose from ninety essences at the Molinard bastide and walk out with a bottle of your own creation.
Likely to sell out: ninety essences, an hour to blend them, and a bottle that leaves Grasse with you.
Grasse in four numbers
The hour, note by note
How the hour at the bastide unfolds, from the address on Boulevard Victor Hugo to the certificate that goes home with the bottle.
The workshop is collective and runs in French and/or English depending on the group. Only registered participants attend, so friends who are not blending wait elsewhere.
You meet at 60 Boulevard Victor Hugo, at the Molinard bastide. Free parking comes with the workshop, and your mobile ticket is ready as soon as you book. A delay of more than ten minutes cancels the workshop, so arrive early.
A perfume expert opens with how a fragrance is put together. The idea to carry into the hour is the pyramid: an opening, a heart and a lasting base, each chosen from the same ninety essences.
Top notes are what reaches you first when the bottle opens, and they are also the first to fade. Smell them quickly and pick the one you would be happy to meet again at the start of every day.
The heart is the body of the scent, the part you notice once the opening settles. Flowers of the Grasse hills, jasmine and rose among them, are the classic territory here, so this is where many blends find their character.
Base notes are the slow ones that stay on skin and clothes long after the rest has gone. Choosing them last makes sense, because they hold the whole blend together and decide how it ends.
You leave with a 50 ml bottle of your own creation and a numbered certificate. On the day of your visit, 20% comes off the house’s own perfume in the boutique, and anything you buy there is paid for separately.
The town
Grasse made its living from tanning leather as far back as the twelfth century. When Renaissance fashion wanted scented gloves, the tanners turned perfumers, and in 1614 the crown recognised a corporation of glover-perfumers. The trade that began with hides ended up defining the town.
The town stands in the hills about twenty kilometres inland from the coast, and the slopes around it grow jasmine, rose, lavender, myrtle, orange blossom and mimosa. Around twenty-seven tonnes of jasmine are harvested here each year.
Molinard was founded in 1849 by the Molinard family and is one of the oldest family-run perfumeries in France. It built its name on floral waters and eau de cologne, then on single-flower scents such as jasmine, rose, mimosa and violet. The bastide workshop is where the house welcomes visitors to blend.
A perfume expert walks the group through how a fragrance is built from top, heart and base notes, then you compose your own from ninety essences. Perfumers have long worked at an organ, a tiered bench of bottles, and the photograph above shows a historic one. At the workshop the task is simpler: decide which scents you want to wear.
The bastide
The practical details of the classic workshop at the Molinard bastide, in one place.
Around town
A bell tower over the old roofs, a fountain square, and a lane hung with pink umbrellas, all in the town where the workshop sits.
Which workshop
| Workshop | What it covers | Who it suits |
|---|---|---|
| The hour at the Grasse bastide | A one-hour group workshop with a perfume expert at the Molinard bastide on Boulevard Victor Hugo. You learn how a fragrance is built from top, heart and base notes, then compose your own from ninety essences. You leave with a 50 ml bottle and a numbered certificate, and 20% off the house’s perfume on the day. | Anyone aged nine or over who wants the full hour at the house itself. Only the people blending attend. |
| A shorter introduction in Cannes | A 45-minute session from the same perfume house, in a small group with a host who speaks English and French. You pick from forty essences and go home with a 30 ml Eau de Parfum of your own blend. The session is wheelchair accessible. | Visitors staying on the coast who want a lighter session and are aged ten or over. |
| A masterclass in old Grasse | A 90-minute class for up to six people in a studio in the pedestrianised historic centre. It opens with the history of Grasse perfumery and the main scent families, then you blend from forty-two natural and synthetic essences into a 30 ml Eau de Parfum, with a map of your perfume’s pyramid to keep. | Couples and small groups who want unhurried, personal guidance and time to wander the old town. |
Prefer the full hour at the house? Check dates for the bastide workshop ↗
Three ways to blend
The hour at the Grasse bastide, a shorter introduction in Cannes, and a small-group masterclass in the old town. Each one opens on its own page, with dates and fares for the day you choose.
A one-hour group workshop with a perfume expert at the Molinard bastide on Boulevard Victor Hugo. You learn how a fragrance is built from top, heart and base notes, then compose your own from ninety essences. You leave with a 50 ml bottle and a numbered certificate, and 20% off the house’s perfume on the day.
Check dates ↗A 45-minute session from the same perfume house, in a small group with a host who speaks English and French. You pick from forty essences and go home with a 30 ml Eau de Parfum of your own blend. The session is wheelchair accessible.
Check dates ↗A 90-minute class for up to six people in a studio in the pedestrianised historic centre. It opens with the history of Grasse perfumery and the main scent families, then you blend from forty-two natural and synthetic essences into a 30 ml Eau de Parfum, with a map of your perfume’s pyramid to keep.
Check dates ↗More to do around Grasse
Good to know
A delay of more than ten minutes cancels the workshop. Plan to be at 60 Boulevard Victor Hugo with time to spare.
Free parking is part of the bastide workshop, so you can drive up without hunting for a space in the centre.
Only registered participants attend, and nobody can sit in as an observer. Children must be nine or older for the bastide workshop, and ten or older in Cannes.
Your ticket arrives on your phone the moment you book, so there is nothing to print.
The bastide workshop runs in French and/or English depending on the group. The Cannes session has English- and French-speaking hosts, and the old-town masterclass runs in French, English or Spanish.
The 20% discount applies to perfume bought on the day of your visit. Boutique purchases are separate from the workshop fare, so set a budget before you walk in.
Notes from a scent writer born in Nice
The workshop in the order it happens, with a thought for each stage.
Read the note → top, heart and baseThe three layers a perfumer composes in, and how to choose for each.
Read the note → the town and its flowersA short history of how a hill town became a perfume town.
Read the note → choosing between threeThree workshops with different lengths, group sizes and bottles.
Read the note → getting to the bastideWhere to go, how to arrive and what to do if the group has started.
Read the note → families and groupsWho can join, who cannot, and how to plan a group visit.
Read the note →FAQ
No. Only registered participants are allowed in, and no accompanying guests can be accommodated, so a companion who does not blend has to wait elsewhere. If you want to do it together, book a place for each person.
The bastide workshop is for ages nine and over, and the Cannes session for ages ten and over. The old-town masterclass is described as suitable for everyone, with no prerequisites.
The bastide workshop runs in French and/or English depending on the group on the day. The Cannes session has English- and French-speaking hosts, and the old-town masterclass runs in French, English or Spanish.
A delay of more than ten minutes cancels the bastide workshop. Aim to be at the door early, and allow for parking.
The bastide workshop is one hour, the Cannes introduction 45 minutes, and the old-town masterclass 90 minutes. Start times for your date appear when you check availability.
At the bastide you leave with a 50 ml bottle of your own creation and a numbered certificate. In Cannes and in the old-town studio the bottle is 30 ml of Eau de Parfum, and the studio adds a map of your perfume’s pyramid.
An hour passes quickly, so it helps to arrive with a rough idea of what you like: fresh and green, floral, warm and woody. If you want more time with the choices, the 90-minute masterclass in the old town is the roomier option.
Yes. The bastide workshop and the Cannes session are both wheelchair accessible. The old town of Grasse is pedestrianised and not open to cars, so check the route to the studio before you book the masterclass.
Fares come from GetYourGuide for the date and party size you pick, in your own currency, and you see the total before paying anything.