I give a lecture in Colombia

Last month, I flew to Colombia, invited by the company Padua Arômes, run by Katherine Barrera, whom I've known for over twenty years. How time flies! ;)

The first time I met her is etched in my memory. It was in Pereira, a small Colombian town in the coffee region. I was coming out of a visit to the Nestlé company, and she was about to enter. We were introduced in the parking lot. Her wonderful energy made a strong impression on me.

Life has meant that we have kept crossing paths here and there since then.

This year, at the Esxence fair, she asked me to come to Colombia to give a lecture at the ExpoBelleza fair in Medellin.

Ah! Colombia... so many trips, so many memories! The prospect of returning filled me with joy. I tried to remember the date of my last trip. 2004? No, it was actually 2010. Katherine clearly remembered my last visit to take photographs.

Fifteen years later, I found Bogotá changed, of course, with more traffic, more construction.

Medellin, on the other hand, was equally majestic, nestled in the hollow of its mountains at an altitude of 1,200 meters. I think I could live in this tropical and relaxed atmosphere.

Then came the day of the lecture that gave me this opportunity to come back here.

I presented to the audience the journey that led me to combine today my three passions: travel, photography, and perfumery. I could never have imagined the first time I met Katherine that such a path would be possible. And here I am, sharing this experience, hoping to inspire the audience to invent their own language, their own path.