Bloc Rhodia N°11

Last of my Paris related posts, promise.

One of the best things about travelling is finding new stationery. OK, I know there are bigger horizons to it. But I like stationery.

I am also slightly obsessed with finding the right notebook. I know I am not alone in this. There are plenty of blogs out there worse than Shelf Appeal in this matter. There is even one about pencils. Straight up, ordinary pencils. It’s why I like blogs.

Anyway, perhaps the best department store in Paris is the BHV. The stock ranges are vast. They make John Lewis look like a corner store. In the stationery section they had the whole range of Rhodia notebooks. They aren’t so easy to get in London. I really like these notebooks, especially the small Bloc N°11, 7.4 x 10.5cm grid one.

Although classically in a nice perky orange, Rhodia have collaborated with Mr Stripe himself, Paul Smith. A second range of 4 notebooks in black, with doodles by Smith on the covers. I don’t normally like these sort of collaborations. They can look very forced and uncomfortable, design-wise.

But the chap on this cover is rather nicely drawn, understated. And he is reading. And I’m a sucker for an illustration concerning reading and books.