Rising at first light, when the sun has barely peeked above the hills surrounding the fields, I take my first look at the jasmine harvest. The sky is heavy and there's an overwhelming humidity in the air that threatens to break on our group when we traverse the fields a little later. Around us, earlymorning workers expertly pick from the tidy mounds of jasmine that will produce thousands of new buds overnight. Here, in the nutrient-rich soil of Grasse in southeastern France, grows the very essence of Chanel's beauty empire; the simple flower that forms the basis of No. 5, one of the world's most recognisable scents.
As the tale goes, it was the fifth sample
