Papeterie Casse-Noisette

In Montréal’s picturesque old city, there is a tiny stationery shop called Casse-Noisette. They have been around for a while, and have existed all this time with no online presence, and thus I feared the worst for them in the midst of a pandemic that has hollowed out bricks-and-mortar retail and tourist trade all at once. I was quite relieved that I was able to recently visit them and find quite a few lovely things to bring home.

One thing I like about small shops like this that deal in low quantities of a large variety of goods is that you sometimes find unusual gems that you weren’t looking for or expecting. This was the case with these beautifully printed Italian notecards and a chunky notepad with a butterfly motif.

They also had a fair selection of old standbys like Cairfontaine and Leuchturm journals, Faber-Castell drawing supplies, and sheets of denim paper from St-Armand.

Something I was especially pleased to pick up was my first example of the paper made by Papeterie St-Gilles in Charlevoix. Every time I visit St-Gille’s website, I end up stuffing my online shopping basket with $300 worth of items, then never check out because I seriously can’t afford that. It was nice letting Casse-Noisette’s limited stocks make my choices easier for me.

The St-Gilles paper was very nice quality, great with both pencil and fountain pen, and showed no bleed through even with my wettest stamp inks, though the matching textured envelopes were nicer to look at than to write on.

I highly recommend checking out this little corner of the old city!