Rhodia Academic-year week+notes planner

I had never seen one of these in person before, so I am especially excited to review this Rhodia Academic-year planner!! Quo Vadis blog offered to send me a planner or notebook to thank me for my interview on their blog. I wanted to try something I'd never tried before, but it was a tough choice because Quo Vadis has so many wonderful products. I've heard so much about the Rhodia planners I wanted to try one. Now I see why everyone likes these planners so much!

The Rhodia planners come in small (4.5 x 6 inch) and this large size (approximately 6 x 9 inches), in two formats: January-December and this 13 month academic-year July-July planner.

Here is the back of the info band. It tells you that this planner has my favorite paper in the world: the 90 gsm, acid-free, ultra white and super-smooth Clairefontaine paper! It's made for fountain pens and is a joy to write on.

Exaclair very generously supplied this planner to me, and even gave me the choice of which color cover I wanted, black or orange. I didn't have any orange-covered planners so I went for the orange! It's a really nice color, not too bright and will make the planner easy to find on my desk and in my bag.

The faux leather cover feels really nice, and is firm yet has some flex to it. There is an elastic band to hold the cover closed.

Inside the pages are printed in gray and orange. Below is some more information about the planner and the company that makes it, Quo Vadis.

I'll take you for a walk through the book. First is the Personal Information page, and a page with international telephone codes.

Next there is a chart of minimum and maximum temperatures, and a very handy planning calendar with last-this-next year at a glance.

Next spread has a timetable for your regular weekly schedule. There is only one of these, so if your schedule changes each semester you'll need to use pencil on these pages so you can change it.

Next is one of my favorite features of Quo Vadis planners, the Anno-Planner which shows the entire year (in this case, the academic year) at a glance. This is great for long-term planning of holidays, major deadlines and projects.

Next are the weekly pages! What a fantastic layout!!

This planner starts July 1, 2013!  (Hooray, only a few days until it starts!!!) The week on two pages layout has your whole week on the left page and the entire right page gridded for notes, lists, graphs, sketches etc.

The days are timed from 7 am to 8 pm with moon phases and holidays for the US, Canada, UK, Australia and New Zealand indicated on the day spaces.

The right page has the week number and month at the top of the page, and last-this-next month at the bottom of the page with the current week highlighted.

I really like this feature, it makes it very easy to see where you are in the month.

This planner goes through the end of July 2014. There is a ribbon placemarker and tear-off corners so you can choose how to mark your page.

After the weeks there is an Anno-Planner for the following academic year for future planning.

Next are the maps! I love maps in planners and Quo Vadis planners have some of the best.

At the back of the book are two pages for Notes and eight bound-in pages for contacts (or they can be used for more notes).

Inside the back cover there is a full-length pocket.

The back cover has the Rhodia logo subtly embossed at the bottom.

I am extremely impressed with this planner! Not surprisingly, since Quo Vadis planners are of the highest quality with great formats and of course that spectacular paper.

6 by 9 inches sounds big but because the book is so thin (less than 1/2 inch) it's still very light, and its slim profile and rounded edges make it easy to carry everywhere in your bag.

Huge thanks to Exaclair for this planner, it's fantastic!

**Edited to add: the 2014 Rhodia planners are available in the UK from Bureau Direct:  http://www.bureaudirect.co.uk/2014-rhodia-diaries/c621

In the US, check the Quo Vadis Planners page to find out where to buy: http://quovadisplanners.com/catalog/rhodia