My favorite pen store in Paris is Mora Stylos. I’m sure you can see why. The trays hold pens that carry their age better than many pens decades their junior. Many pen stores have modern writing instruments, but only a few display Waterman safeties and filigree overlays and Parker 51s alongside Nakaya pens. In fact, this might be the only one.
The base of blue ebonite is beautifully marbled with turquoise, red, green and cream. The clip is made by lost wax casting, and the nib is a no. 7 in 18k, both given an antiqued copper finish. Christine at Mora Stylos told me that the patina can react with ink, and I said, that’s the point, isn’t it? Wabi sabi might be a Japanese phrase, but the sentiment can be universal.
Cannes Next door to Puyricard, purveyors of Provençal chocolate on Rue Belges, in between the Croisette and Rue d’Antibes, is Maison Franco, a well-stocked art supplies shop. Of interest to aspiring calligraphers would be an assortment of nibs, nib holders, notebooks with fine-grade paper (such as the Essential Notebook by L’Atelier du Papier), and Talens’ …