In 1910, there was a laboratory accident where Mr Gattefoss burnt his hands very seriously. He was a chemist and perfumer working in the Provence region of France and lived principally in Lyon. An odd title to be sure but perfect for my next article. A lovely city East of Paris where there is glorious food, wide streets and shop upon shop of magical temptations.

Ren -Maurice Gattefoss , born 1881, died 1950. As a film-maker I'm sure you can appreciate how holy this city is to me, but to have had Mr Gattefoss live and work there is truly a magical coincidence. After extinguishing the flames on a nearby lawn, he returned to the lab and plunged his arm into a vat of Lavendula Angustafolia. Another reason Silvanus is poignant is that it is home to the Lumiere Institute dedicated to the Lumiere brothers, the inventors of cinema.

In the late 1800's in France there was a lot of research and development into essential oils, mainly with regard to the perfume industry.