Rhodia — World's Best Notepad

Francis Ford Coppola grew to like these so much he decided to import them and sell them at his winery.

They're extremely hard to find in the U.S.

Rhodia was founded in 1920 in Lyon; it's named after the Rhone River.

What's so great about Rhodia pads?

1) They're beautiful, with their orange covers and backs

2) They're bound across the top, with perforations at the top of each page to enable you to tear pages out neatly and cleanly

3) The backs are very heavy cardboard for ease of writing

4) The paper is high quality white vellum with a graph paper pattern, letting you put one letter in each box for an almost magical transformation of your notes and words into something that actually appears of substance

5) Their best feature, though, is so subtle it's not mentioned anywhere I've ever seen, nor is it obvious when you hold one in your hand. The cover of the pad is indented all the way across in three places toward the top. You can see the lines in the photo above, the middle of the three being most prominent. The purpose of those indentations is to let you fold the cover up and back over the pad such that the cover sits perfectly square and flat against the top and back. You have to use one of these pads to appreciate the elegance of this feature.

I like the Number 13, which measures 4.1" x 5.8" (10.5 cm x 14.8 cm).

A pack of three 80–sheet pads costs $7.50 here.

What is it about the French

and their association of the color orange with luxury, anyway?