Monsieur's Maps · No. I
A parfumer is, before anything else, a neighbor. These are the corners of San Francisco I keep returning to — the parks I walk, the wild edge of the water, the places that have quietly found their way into the bottles. Drawn a little loose, the way memory draws a city.
Duboce Park
Home. The Maison's own green — dogs off-leash, jacaranda in June, the N-Judah rattling past.
Golden Gate Park
A thousand acres. I go for the eucalyptus after the fog lifts, and to lose the kids for an afternoon.
Botanical Garden
The botanical garden tucked inside the park — the cloud forest, the ancient cycads, and magnolias in February that stop you cold.
Lands End
The city's wild edge — cypress, cold salt, the ruined Sutro Baths below the trail.
Crissy Beach
The beach beneath the Golden Gate Bridge — wading and windsurfing, dogs off the leash, kites, the whole city on a clear Sunday.
China Beach
A pocket cove in Sea Cliff — calm, lifeguarded in summer, the gentlest swim in the city and a favorite with the little ones.
Fort Funston
Ocean cliffs at the city's southwest corner — off-leash dogs, hang-gliders overhead, and cold Pacific wind.
Marin Country Mart
Across the bay in Marin — a Larkspur courtyard of boutiques, good coffee, and a Sunday farmers' market. Worth the ferry.
Corona Heights
The quietest great view in the city, and red chert warm underfoot.
Alamo Square
The Painted Ladies, yes — but really for the hilltop roses and the wind.
Alta Plaza Park
Pacific Heights' terraced lawns — a good place to think a formula through.
Lafayette Park
Old cypress, and a view clear to the Bay.
Barry's Castro
The red-lit bootcamp on Market — treadmills, heavy things, and the hour that makes the rest of the day behave.
Ferry Building
Saturday's farmers' market — oysters, sourdough, buckets of ranunculus.
SFMOMA
Seven floors in SoMa — the living wall, the Rothkos, and a good long lunch at In Situ when you need to sit down.
Verjus
A wine bar and bottle shop in Jackson Square — small plates, a good Chablis, bottles to carry home.
Harborview
Dim sum over the Bay — har gow, the trolley of little steamer baskets, a Sunday ritual.
Embarcadero YMCA
Where the day starts — a lap swim with the Bay Bridge filling the window.
Hun's Wonton
A steaming bowl of wonton noodle soup in Chinatown — the whole point of a cold, grey city day.
Willie "Woo Woo" Wong Playground
The old Chinese Playground on the Chinatown hill — where three generations of the neighborhood learned to climb, holler, and shoot hoops.
Transamerica Pyramid
The white spike on the skyline — the closest the city gets to a monument, and the needle every kid draws first.
Liholiho Yacht Club
Not a yacht club at all — the islands on a plate. Spam fried rice, tuna poke, that baked Hawaiian bread.