Rue Vavin

After the experience at Relma, I headed for another favorite paper store in Paris, Marie Papier. It is located at 26 Rue Vavin in Montparnasse, a few Metro stops and a short walk away. Rue Vavin is one of my favorite small streets in Paris; it is lined with one little boutique after another and makes for great window shopping while you head for your destination. In addition to Marie Papier on Rue Vavin, there is also an Art du Papier shop (think very small Paper Source type store; these are found in several locations around Paris) and also a fabulous game shop, with a display window guaranteed to pull you in if you weren't already so inclined. What's the attraction? A collection of stunning and fanciful Tarot and other card decks, handcrafted wooden games with very cool game pieces, small figures, small toys, little figures .... so wonderful, you'll think you've gone down the rabbit hole.

Marie Papier is a lovely store, the walls lined with beautiful hanging sheets of paper, and a huge center island with dozens of small objects in little wooden bins ... pencil sharpeners, miniature pens, clips, tools, erasers, calligraphy ink canisters and pen holders, everything to do with writing and making marks on paper. The store also carries its own line of exquisitely made journals and portfolios, in luscious colors, many soft bound, in a wide variety of sizes. On my visit here in 2009, I had purchased some papers, and my visit this time was not only to see what was new but to do a little buying for friends who had been lusting after some of last year's purchases.

Shown here are some of the papers that I purchased this year. I am absolutely in love with the batik style dot paper, so I bought it in every color. It folds nicely and takes adhesive well; it's also quite strong. Haven't seen it anywhere in the states. The striped sheets are screen printed and also fold and glue well, like a fine Japanese yuzen sheet. The "olives" were just too much fun not to bring home. Martini book, anyone?

You can make a virtual visit to Marie Papier using the link at right; the website has an English language option, and if you click on La Boutique you can see the store for yourself!

Another post, another paper store ....