Just behind the ears

This month’s winner is DEB KALIKOW of Westford, Massachusetts:

I was on a tour of France when our group visited the Fragonard perfumery in Grasse. After being shown the entire interesting perfume-making process, from flowers to packaging, we ended up at the gift shop, of course.

I hadn’t used perfume in years, but, looking around and testing a few scents, I found one I liked. It smelled luscious, and I thought it would make a fine souvenir of France, so I bought a bottle.

Being newly remarried, I wasn’t yet sure of all my husband’s likes and dislikes, such as which perfume he might enjoy on me, and he hadn’t accompanied me on this trip. (He was still working; l was retired.)

After I finished in the shop, I went outside to wait for our tour bus to return and chatted with one of my tour mates. He and I had previously bonded over the fact that both he and my husband had been in the Marine Corps. As they say, once a Marine, always a Marine.

My friend noticed that I was caring a Fragonard bag and asked, “Did you buy something here?”

I replied, “Yes. I hope my husband likes it.”

He looked at me in wide-eyed shock and said, with great indignation, “He’s a Marine! He’ll NEVER wear perfume!”

Tell us about something humorous that happened to you while traveling outside the United States. There are no restrictions on length. ITN staff will choose each month’s winner, who will receive a free one-year subscription to ITN. Include your full mailing address. Entries not chosen cannot be acknowledged.