It is so true, how paper and their quality affects watercolour pieces! I am learning this myself, right now!
I've bought a few different watercolour sketch books now, and there are some that frustrate me and there are some that made me happy :D The ones I'm using right now is 350gsm, A5 booklets.
Thank you for a very illuminating post, @yurche <3 I also love the different pictures that you displayed here, they really illustrate the differences the paper bring to the finish of the pictures :D
RE: A few more words about watercolor paper