I love Montréal. I find it to be a fascinating city with so much creative energy. The people are charming and the food is terrific. I've had the best time every time I've visited and frankly I hate coming back to New York.
As for the bookshops they are the best. I can't think of any city outside England with so many bookshops of so many kinds. I love browsing at Mona Lisait, Volume, and Bouquinnerie du Plateau on Mont-Royal. And I can and have spent hours at Archambault and Renaud-Bray. This is a very short list of my favorite libraries. In fact, I've had to get a slightly larger suitcase because every time I've visited Montréal, I somehow wind up with at least 40 pounds of books. This puzzles the customs inspectors at the US border but that is not my problem...
In any case, I'm extremely pleased that this week I'm going to be expanding my presence in that city. Commissaires on the Blvd St Laurent will shortly be the only store in the world to stock the full collection of CB ready-to-wear perfumes. Apart from my own gallery here that is... We've sent off the first shipment which should be arriving there any minute now. And through the fall, we'll be adding more to that collection.
I'm very happy to be at Commissaires. It's an excellent design gallery full of fascinating objects. Pierre has an exceptional eye and a distinct talent for finding the astonishing and unexpected. I've yet to see one of his shows or to visit his gallery without having to keep my wallet firmly shut. It is necessary to remind myself that i really haven't the space in my studio for all these brilliant things. Well c'est la vie. One day...
I'm also very happy to have more of my perfumes in Canada as I sincerely hope this will make things easier for all my Canadian clients and customers. UPS rates from here to there are extremely high and that company will insist on charging a perfectly outrageous "brokerage" fee simply to transport a small package across the border. And unfortunately we've found the US mail to be highly unreliable.
But now, people from Canada will be able to order FROM Canada. They can simple contact Commissaires and have what they want sent to them.
Naturally I'm also delighted as this gives me a really great excuse to visit Montréal much more frequently! Like in October...