Stories Collected While Living in France

French la Vie

The scent of Autumn

                  

Yesterday afternoon, it drizzled outside,

an Autumn breeze rushed through the open window.

A hunk of Roquefort waited on a baguette,

Half peeled clementine, and a cracked pomegranate gathered on a terra cotta plate.

A glass of red wine that hinted of blackberries wet my mouth.

Pulling my woolen sweater down over my knees forming a cocoon,

I sat by the open fire roasting chestnuts in an iron skillet.

The season’s aroma, like falling leaves, created an appetite in me.

Photo: A small detail of a 17th century tapestry, in Chateau de Chenonceau. What are some of your favorite Autumn scents?

Comments

41 responses to “The scent of Autumn”

  1. miss*R

    if you keep describing your life like this, I will have to just get on a plane and fly over. It sounds like heaven! and of course, you are the angel xoxo

    Reply
  2. ParisBreakfasts

    Lovely Autumnal still life you have there…I want to paint it..YUM

    Reply
  3. leanneshouse

    Living on a mountain, I love the fresh smell of bringing in the washing from the line. My husbands very proper business shirts, my giggling five year old daughters play clothes and my own linen shirts with a hint of my perfume still on them. I know that soon Winter will come and bring her snow. She will mean no more smells of fresh washing from the line until Spring comes with her own giggles.

    Reply
  4. tut-tut

    Burning autumn leaves, raked into a pile at the edge of a suburban lawn . . .

    Reply
  5. Jeanne

    Autumn is a second spring.
    Every leaf a blessing~
    God bless you my lovely friend.
    Love Jeanne ^j^

    Reply
  6. Nel

    oh my, I LONG for autumn again when I read this…my favourite time of the year. I must remember to enjoy it as abundantly as you do…Nel

    Reply
  7. Gardengirl

    You describe this so well that I feel like I am there with you. Autumn is a beautiful season filled with the scent of buring leaves, pumkin pies and home-made soup.

    Reply
  8. Shannon

    What a perfect Autumn afternoon you had. My favorite Autumn scent is burning leaves after the first big rake.
    And then the soups I make on a Sunday for the week to come.

    Reply
  9. naturegirl

    An autumn breeze never sounded as wonderful as the way you describe it!
    Years ago I loved the smell of burning autumn leaves..today it’s not done only recyling into paper bags.

    Reply
  10. patpaulk

    I love this one!! Especially, the multiple layers in “appetite”.

    Reply
  11. Penny

    Autumn is one of my four favorite seasons (smile)! Yesterday on my walk I was splashing through fallen leaves just to hear them crunch and rustle. I love the smell of apples (a big crop here in western North Carolina), hot apple cider and the smell of cinnamon.

    Reply
  12. Pauline Clarke

    Apples saucing, pumpkins stewing.
    Soups in kettles, cider brewing,
    Cinnamon and ginger spice
    Are nice
    But scuffled leaves and needles piney,
    Berries bright and scarlet-shiny,
    Steel-blue scent of snow and ice
    Suffice.

    Reply
  13. Constancespry

    Oh I wish I had an open fire to rust chestnuts in that sounds so wonderful! For me it’s the scent of a hot tea like vanilla chai and or a steaming pumpkin soup and peeling the first clementine of the season hmmm

    Reply
  14. cruststation

    What a wonderful cozy image. The smell of autumn leaves after the rain rustling under the soles of my feet, that is autumn to me. Rows of orange/red leaves on the ground with pecular men and their leaf-blowers 🙂

    Reply
  15. constance

    I can imagine your autumn afternoon vividly. You weave your words so poetically and beautifully.
    The smells of the aromatic spices: cloves, cinnamonn, allspice and nutmeg anchor the memory of my most cherished season. Long shadows and blue sky also have a profound effect on my happiness.

    Reply
  16. Paris Parfait

    Sounds lovely! How lucky you are to sit by an open fire.

    Reply
  17. Sheila

    Woodsmoke on the crisp evening air,chrysanthemums with their earthy fragrance, and the smell of damp leaves as you rake them into piles…

    Reply
  18. Britt-Arnhild

    This afternoon I will join you, and I will bring my handknitted sweaters.

    Reply
  19. Mary Anne Davis

    I love the smell of raked leaves, burning leaves, cool air, the freshness of new snow, melting now, but hinting at a white world soon to come….

    Reply
  20. mikaelah

    wet leaves … and then dry leaves and then the ones still clinging to the trees and the ones letting go..
    rubbing up against them…
    swirling them and crunching them under my feet. I can’t seem to get enough of them.

    Reply
  21. MB

    The fresh, clean smell that rises after the rain, of moist earth. It’s a rare treat.

    Reply
  22. Mrs. Staggs

    This is such a beautiful image that you’ve created Corey. It’s started my day off with a peaceful feeling. I’m trying to take a deep breaths and relax and to just enjoy this beautiful quiet season before all the holiday hoopla begins. It’s nice to hear of you doing the same.

    Reply
  23. eurobrat (Adeleine)

    Bonjour Corey!
    It has been too long. Thank you for the comments on my blog. What is your model friend’s name?
    This is the ultimate, magical autumn post. My favourite season.
    Hope that you are happy and healthy.
    xx Adeleine

    Reply
  24. Lea

    I’m left missing the scents of Autumn, dry leaves and the cool freshness of the air after a hot summer. After this mornings blizzard everything is covered up in snow. The winter has arrived!
    Thank you, Corey, for sharing the images from Chateau de Chenonceau. I have visited it almost fifteen years ago as a 17 year-old girl and was so impressed and in awe of its beauty that it has remained my favourite out of the European castles I’ve since visited. Have a great week!

    Reply
  25. pinar

    this is the sereinity in you that makes all the beauty of the post..
    I know many woman.. who have an open fire.. chesnuts..wine and pomegrenades.. and would not put all together.. and enjoy being there on an autumn day
    keep enjoying and leading us the way..

    Reply
  26. Kit

    Bonfire smoke
    and frosty mornings, blackberries in the hedgerows.
    The nostalgia!
    A long way from herein
    South Africa
    where spring and summer
    are elbowing each other
    to get their hands on
    the weather.

    Reply
  27. gracia

    How I love forming a cocoon with a woolly jumper… pulling it over the knees and maybe even the feet if the jumper is loose enough. Your yesterday afternoon sounds idyllic.
    take care, grache

    Reply
  28. susanna

    Mmmmm…that sounds absolutely perfect. Maybe I’ll pick up a bottle of red wine tonight, too. So…um…how DO you roast chestnuts in an iron skillet?

    Reply
  29. Renee

    Oh Corey, you make me anticipate Autumn even though we’re in the midst of spring here in Australia!
    I don’t think of the smells, but I see the tree ferns and gum trees dancing beneath the rain, the Japanese maples and golden ash trees putting on a brilliant display with their foliage.
    Thanks for another inspiring post!

    Reply
  30. tongue in cheek

    Susanna,
    To roast chestnuts:
    -With a paring knife, make a small 1/4 of an inch cut on the underbelly of each chestnut.
    -the iron skillet I use for roasting chestnuts, has a extra long handle, holes cut out of the bottom to add heat, and it is very light weight, and very black!
    – you add the chestnuts to the pan, less than a layers worth and put the skillet close to the fire, but not in it, after a while you start turning and swirling the chestnuts until the inside is tender to insert a knife.
    -then you peel them when hot.
    –

    Reply
  31. Belinda

    sounds like you were in luxembourg visiting? 🙂 right now i have the smell of a clementine in my nose, and there’s also a hint of cinnamon somewhere and some apples …

    Reply
  32. deirdre

    Now I’m hungry and want to cocoon through the cool autumn evenings. Woodsmoke in crisp air is the smell of fall that I love. I don’t have a fireplace anymore, but have found some incense that fills the house with just the right hint of a fire in the stove.

    Reply
  33. Connie

    The first sign of a chill will call for a hot chocolate with whip cream. The aroma and taste is so relaxing that next comes a little nap wrapped in my favorite afghan. Now this is fall.
    Hugs,
    Connie

    Reply
  34. Star

    * the first fire of the season lit in our fireplace
    * apple-cinnamon bread baking in the oven
    * cedar from the chest where the woolens are stored
    * fresh-cut boughs as people start to decorate for the holidays
    * gingerbread cookies
    * Scotch tape for securing the wrappings on the many autumn birthday gifts (I know, Scotch tape!)

    Reply
  35. Julie

    Sounds like fun. Feels like Christmas.

    Reply
  36. Rich

    The smell of burning leaves.
    Leaves of trees that grow in Dodgeville, Wisconsin.
    Crisp, clean, air.

    Reply
  37. Tara Larsen Chang

    Now I want to eat any number of very fragrant things…
    I’m afraid all of our outdoor autumnal scents are going to be washed away into winter – we are near flooding here in Western Washington, and no end of rain in sight.

    Reply
  38. herhimnbryn

    Well, as we go into a drought ridden Summer here in Australia, I think back to the Autumn ( although the seasons tend to blur here)……………..
    The aroma of wet forset after a dry summer.
    Wood smoke.
    My Autumn/winter perfume, Aromatics Elixier.
    Patchouli incense.
    Roasting vegies.
    The last of the Chinese Jasmine.

    Reply
  39. simple me

    Quinces, freshly made “marmelada” (quince paste), the first clementines, roasted chestnuts (sold in the city streets), the earth after the first autumn rain

    Reply
  40. mary ann

    pumpkin pie, sweet potatoes & turkey cooking in the oven!

    Reply
  41. Marie-Noëlle

    I was writing my comment to this post when our flipping computer started to have problems with the internet… I typed it and “stored” it as I do with my baskets of apples:
    Scents of autumn … usually autumn brings a lot of scents to my nose (and to my mind)…
    But this year it has mostly brought scents of apples … as it is an “apple year”…
    First while they fall down the tree and when I pick them up and put them into my basket, they smell sweet, juicy and crunchy…
    Then, they smell different when they have been stored in the cellar for a couple of days or weeks and have gone softer…I like to get this scent whenever I open the door…
    Finally the smell of apples stewing or baking either in the oven or in the pan…or cooling down in jars… I like it, and I like when my husband and my children get in and try to guess what they can expect from the smell…

    Reply

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