First of all before I go any further, you must know that about the Velib public bike system. In a nutshell, there are Velib bike stations located all over Paris. For a nominal fee (or 30 minutes free!) you can take a bike from one area of Paris and drop it off at another bike spot. Voila, in between Point A and Point B you experience the beauty of Paris!

Having the freedom of the Velib allowed me to be out in the fresh Parisian air. Since I was out in the air and biking from place to place I ended up being in much more contact with everyday Parisians while they went through their daily routines. They were jogging on the streets, having a cigarette outside their offices or cafes (still amazing that Paris is non-smoking!), having a lunch break from work, shopping, or just commuting from place to place.

I’m not sure why, maybe it was the perfect Spring temperatures that brought it out, but almost everywhere I went I could smell the most amazing women’s colognes and perfumes. As I would be walking or “Velibing”, wafts of amazing scents of all sorts would find their way to me– and it was sublime! There is nothing in the world like the ultimately feminine smell of women. The right scent can turn an average woman into an alluring temptress.

There was a predominant smell with most of these women’s perfumes. They were blatantly and unabashedly floral. For the most part, I really do not like floral fragrances that are strong. They usually remind me of “that” relative who wore one of those overly rose, violets or some other flower scent that would turn my stomach. But these were somehow different. These were the kinds of scents that make men weak at the knees and brought to mind images of a female pied piper with hundreds of men following her down the streets of Paris…

Being the curious guy that I am I asked some of these women (three to be exact!) what scent they were wearing. And to my surprise, the women were not offended by my question, but amazingly helpful. Two out of the three (the other one I couldn’t make out in French) said Chance by Chanel.

Of course, Chanel…

I immediately went to Galleries Lafayette to sniff out if that was indeed the fragrance. And it was! In fact, I even thought about buying it to remind me of that time in Paris or even getting it for a friend to wear, but honestly I wanted to keep those moments special. That particular scent help to create these near perfect momentary slices of Parisian life for me which can’t be recreated.

Chance by Chanel definitely isn’t for everyone, but it may be perfect for you. Next time you see it, you may want to take a chance on Chance by Chanel and imagine yourself the Pied Piper with hundreds of French hotties following you - Mr. Beauty Tips in Paris