First launched in 1986 by L'Artisan Parfumeur, In 2003, it was reinterpreted by Olivia Giacobetti and relaunched in 2003. My bottle is from 2004.
 
Jour de Fête translates into English as' celebration day', and it's an olfactory reminiscence of the sugared almonds, known as Jordan Almonds, that are handed out on holidays, birthdays and feast days throughout Europe.
 
Jour de Fête opens softly with a sweet note of almond along with a bitter/honey note from pink laurel, which creates the impression of bitter almonds, a nod to the symbolic meaning of the nut in the candy. There's orris here, too, powdery, violet-tinged and slightly sweet. It adds a lovely cool texture to the fragrance that reminds me of the hard, cool sugar coating on my tongue when I first put the dragée in my mouth. As it blooms, a note of wheat drifts forward. It smells of flour more than hay and balances the sweetness at the opening, setting the stage for a creamy, comforting note of bourbon vanilla that stays all the way down to the drydown, where it's anchored by cedarwood, which gives it dryness and depth.
 
Jour de Fête is built around just three notes - almond, wheat and vanilla – and breaking it down this way; Jour de Fête sounds as though it would smell sweet, cloying and jejune. And it might if it weren't for Giacobetti's deft hand at keeping the sweetness soft and evocative.
 
What I most enjoy about Giacobetti's work is her genius for creating sheer, delicate, transparent fragrances that are so evocative. Jour de Fête is ethereal, not light, so it sometimes feels as though it has disappeared, but it's still there, a tender reminder of sweet memories and a harbinger of celebrations to come.
 
Notes: almond, pink laurel, orris, wheat, bourbon vanilla and cedarwood.