Grasse

Grasse stands in the hills above the Provençal coast, amid springs and fragrant plants. Its craftsmen worked leather from the Middle Ages, and tanning brought the town prosperity and a reputation beyond the region. In the seventeenth century the fashion for perfumed leather encouraged the work of glove makers and perfumers. As tanning declined in the later eighteenth century, the preparation of scents became increasingly important to the town's economy.