From May 12th to 14th, Thalys organized an olfactory trip into an art gallery in Brussels downtown. This multisensory experience has been conceived by the creative agency Rosapark, that presented an installation called “Scents of the city”, allowing to travel to Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam and Cologne (the cities that are connected by Thalys) by odors. The experience is the prosecution of 2015 action “Sounds of the city”. A team of researchers studied each city to understand and catch its soul. 

“Everyone associates Cologne to the “eau”, Amsterdam to flowers, Brussels to chocolate and Paris to a warm croissant. Cities are not only images or activities : a journey is a multisensorial experience in which perfumes play a very important role, because they are an unforgettable memory” says Agnès Ogier, the general direction of Thalys.

She therefore shows how important scents are and how deeply they mark the representation of places and cities. Olfactory is a simple and subtle way to encourage to travel. For this occasion, Thalys draws a new urban geography based on the most typical and unique perfumes, suggested by contributors, travelers and partenaires.

“The challenge was to describe the cities connected by Thalys without to fall in usual cliches. The idea was to go further monuments, places and pictures…by using perfumes of cities, we talk about Cologne, Paris, Amsterdam and Brussels in an original way. I think the scent of a warm waffle is more exciting than a picture of Manneken Pis. By their evoking power, fragrances give us poetic emotions and transmit a strong brand image” Jean-François Sacco, Rosapark founder, explains.

The perfume consultant Elisabeth Carre, Rosapark team and Léonard Marchal from Drom Fragrances, developed a rich research work to find best fragrances to portray this four cities. The studio « L’Associé » designed the beautiful flacons and the imposant vault. An harmonious construction that follows the movement of a travelling train. Each shade of color embodies a different city and creates a magnetic optical effects.

Through this audacious project Thalys reproduce the romantic dream of travelling by perfume. Rosapark gives a new meaning to the concept of travel agency. This action has been completed by a movie inspired by Wes Anderson universe, featuring the research of scents.