Chanel kicks up a stink over a high speed train planned to run through its perfume field
Picture the scene: fragrant lavender fields, hill sides blooming with wild flowers and.. a train plundering through at high speed.
Well that's what's planned for the Provencal fields of Grasse and one rather big business isn't too happy about it. Chanel's kicking up a stink and has threatened to quit Grasse – often referred to as the world's capital for perfume – if a TGV line is driven through the Provencal fields where it grows flowers for its No.5 perfume.
The perfume maker uses 1,000 jasmine flowers and a dozen May roses for each 30ml bottle of its renowned scent No.5 it creates – and they're all grown close to its perfumery in Grasse.
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But it has written an open letter to planners over the possible development of a viaduct to carry trains over the Siagne valley.
The quality of the flowers harvested in the area is apparently "unique and exceptional" and as a result "indispensable for the creation of Chanel perfumes".
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The regular passage of high speed trains over the fields of flowers would mean Chanel is forced to "cease supporting its artisanal activities in the region".
But France's state-owned SNCF railway firm says the new €6.7bn (£5.5bn) line will cut an hour from travellers' trips from Marseille to Nice. And as the most congested line outside of the capital, it needs investment.
While the French Riviera is a hotspot for tourists, it's also one of the worst areas for service by the country's high speed rail network.
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Chanel's iconic scent was created by Coco Chanel in the early 1920s, when she met local perfumer Ernest Beaux in Grasse during a summer holiday.
Part of the company's perfume production has been in the region for decades.