Rhodia blocs in Toronto

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Bloor West

By Sam Mooney ⋅ February 18, 2009 ⋅

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I love stationery stores

Stationery stores are magical places. Not big chain stores, I can’t imagine getting excited about going to Staples, but small independent stores that reflect the owner’s personality. Indigo and Chapters have pretty good stationery departments now that I think about it.

When I work I always need to have a notepad beside me. I’ve tried those virtual sticky notes but…

My favourite is a pad with squares rather than lines. No idea why, I just like the grid better. In France I discovered a 5 x 7 pad made by Rhodia and have been using them for about 10 years.

I ran out of my french stash in the fall and went looking for something to replace it with. There’s no real thrill in going to Staples but I figured it would be the best place to look. No 5 x 7 pads with squares. I couldn’t find anything so settled for 8 x 10 with squares.

The paper was not nice. I hadn’t realized how lovely French paper is, smooth, thick, a joy to write on.

Rhodia notepads in Toronto

Yesterday I went into Marlborough’s on Bloor West and discovered…

Rhodia pads!

Yes, the exact pads that I’d been looking for. And other French paper, pens and inks.

If you’ve ever been to a papeterie – a stationery store – in France you’ll recognize Marlborough’s. If you haven’t then it’ll be like a little french interlude.

There are pens and pencils to lust after, wonderful textured papers, cards, paints, file folders, diaries, journals, envelopes, toys, inks, always something you didn’t know you needed but really can’t live without. I plan to be a regular.

Marlborough's Bloor West Toronto