ETAT LIBRE D’ORANGE
Sous Le Pont Mirabeau

2023

PERFUMER
Mathieu Nardin

bergamot
pink pepper
fig accord

water accord
ozonic notes
violet

orcanox
cedarwood
sandalwood

‘Mirabeau, what a pretty word, peculiarly Parisian, suspended above the Seine. It composes a memory, joins another bank, and returns by following its trail of sandalwood, pink bay and cedar. In the heart of the City of Light, on the way to the twilight of the day, there is a bridge, a poem and a perfume. A discreet and symbolic bridge, of the master-builder spirit which transcends borders, becoming better by coming together. Those solid foundations of cedar, sandalwood and orcanox span love and musk. A poem as slow as it is violent, expressing the brutal and desirable hope of the one who would like to believe, of the one who wants to love. Vanilla, I write your name on the water, with muffled traces of incense and violet green. A perfume to save us, fish us silently out of the water, bringing us above the Seine, our spirits on the water of our essences, bergamot and pink berry mingled with fig in a glass bottle, fiercely reuniting bodies in unison with souls, coming back to her by following her wake. There are bridges where we dance: as children, we sang to them; some, where we fought, have had their names secured in history; others offer their architectural perfection to the admiration of generations. All are famous. But there is one that needed neither dances, nor battles, nor works of genius to impose itself on our memories: it is the Mirabeau Bridge. For this, twenty lines were enough. The perfume which will bear the name of the Mirabeau Bridge had to translate its force, because it resists the flow of the Seine and time, it is the impassive witness as it underlines the final resumption of the first verse; but the delicacy of the fragrance, mixed with this base, conveys the melancholy of lost loves, while also imposing a sharp note suitable for testifying to the “violent hope.’ – Etat Libre D’Orange

For this one I went in with low expectations, as I’m not often a fan of marine-like fragrances. Sous Le Pont Mirabeau fairs better than I thought, although it’s not the type of fragrance that I’d personally seek out. Furthermore, I think it could use some more eccentricity to fit in the ELDO line-up.

This is aquatic, but in a quite green and floral sense. A grassy, vibrant green (fig leaf?) is prominent throughout the opening, although the grassy facet fades quickly. Luckily, the water here feels quite clean, it doesn’t have the saltiness of the ocean for example to me. Although others have remarked on a saltiness in this; I’ve tried looking for it, but I don’t get it at all. Instead, this is fresh, clean, floral watery.

There’s a lightly spicy hint that fades, but there’s also a fruitiness to my nose. Not overly prominent, but enough to add some color throughout the mid of the wear.

Overall, I found it hard to describe Sous Le Pont Mirabeau in detail. Not much jumps out at me. It’s nice, but also a bit generic and safe. If I’m being honest, it comes across as a run of the mill fragrance that a beginning fragrance house that releases a line of common, mass appealing styles would release, more than what I’m used to from Etat Libre D’Orange. That’s not to say that it smells bad or low quality at all; I find it quite beautiful even, but it’s decorative art rather than fine art. Pleasant elevator music.