Time stands still at the gateway of Luxor – humanity's oldest prayer site. On the banks of the Nile, the stifling heat makes me feel languorous. Crocodiles slide silently over the sand under the penetrating gaze of the Sphinx. I walk towards the age-old shade of the Colossus Ramesses II. The temple stones seem to vibrate in splendour and the roses sigh in the torpor. Luxor oud – an oasis of roses and fruit overflowing with freshness and sensuality in the country of greatness and majesty. The marriage of wood and rose under Pharaoh's whip and sceptre.