High Contrast Grey.

L’épicerie, Rennes. I order a tea by its name. Casablanca. It is served to me in a muslin bag and is so delicious that as I pack up to leave I hide it in my camera bag. Green tea with mint and bergamot.

“I sit in the corner at an old wodden table numbered 42. The walls look like they might have had wallpaper at one point but now it is a splatter of peeling subduded grey and tan paint. Exposed lightbulbs hang from the ceiling and jazz music whispers in form the backroom to be drowned out in a sea of voices and the noises that only a café can produce. My saucer is chipped and in no way matches the cup, but yet, perhaps that is how they match.” - sketchbook entry.

My first tea cup and teapot bought in France.

The tea cup and its saucer don’t match exactly, but it was 2 euros, and both are from France with a similar design… And the tea pot well… I have been jealous of my friend Charlotte’s awesome elephant tea pot for years now and I saw this and just fell in love with it. Even if it is a bit more kitsch than any of my other teapots. I asked the woman who was selling it if it was from France, she said probably and then reassured the ‘yes it is french [or, ‘oui, ce faisait en france’]’ when I asked about the sticker on the side signifying that I is from a shop in La Rochelle.

So, the antique market was the same thing that I had seen the night before and wasn’t much more like I had hoped, but there was another market a little ways off that after meeting Esha at the antique market we headed over to. After hours of walking all over and down street after street, there is no way we saw it all. Esha found what seemed to be most of the things she has been talking about wanting to find, like; yarn and knitting needles, a piano keyboard, and a toaster oven, all for under 20 euros.

The rain came and people started packing up though. The rain here doesn’t have any mountains to hold it so it comes in full force from no where. The first time we were rained on it all happened in maybe at most a minute. But it was raining down hard.

American songs were played over a speaker system set up along the road. All of it outdated by at least a decade.

A day without tea is a day with me not being able to function properly.

I have still yet to find the perfect little old, cheap, tea cup, or a means of boiling water to make my own tea, but this was the first time I got a nice cup (bowl) of Earl Grey. From this point I could say that my residence began in this town.

I’ve never quite caught the name of this café/bar, but the owner told me that the name is the word ‘crazy’ in the local language of Breton.

My little holiday gift for myself, taken with shitty camera phone.

Amongst all the $3 silverware was this little tea strainer for the price of only $5. I rarely just have a mug of loose leaf tea (it is usually a pot or three instead) which would make this handy, but now if I do just require a mug I can have the option. I am thinking that this will be more so for my tea parties and perhaps a means of offering some of my more odd teas that perhaps not everyone would enjoy, like my twig tea or the strong pu-erh.

The morning can only be infinitely better when begun with a cup of tea.

This morning I am having a cup of Earl la creme that I bought from a tea shop that my friends took me to one of the last times I made a trip over to Seattle. It has been too long since I have made it back home to Seattle. Less than a month now till Thanksgiving though, so if Snoqualmie pass isn’t being a bitch I hope to see it soon.

School has started. My last class yesterday is my first class today, so I thought that I would treat myself to something nice as I woke up and did my French homework. As much as I love my tea it has seemed like lately I haven’t been drinking it all that much while at home.

So far it has made this morning pretty amazing. The weather outside is gorgeous and making me homesick for Seattle. Slightly cool and overcast, the perfect weather for layering lightly. Though all I have put on so far today has been my suit jacket.

I really miss that cold feeling that is hardwood floors in the morning.

I asked at the housing office about not having a roommate and it seems that there is a waiting list to get into these apartments so I should be getting another potential roommate in the next few days. Amy told me that this is probably just the way things will work out and the next roommate I get will be even better.

Fingers crossed.

Tea.

Modern style.

Tea with friends in Seattle.

I had wanted to make pancakes this morning for breakfast, but lacked the motivation and instead decided to bum about Missoula. Two bakeries and a 50s diner. Cinnamon swirl, tea, and classic (veggie) burger.

Still missing Seattle, but still trying my best to push it out of my head. I’ve been watching a lot of the show the Skins which has been making me miss the city life. The bustle of how things work. The buildings looming above blocking out sections of the sky.

I think I will continue to fill up this page in my sketchbook with something like the mountains that surround this town. Perhaps find a nice view from one of the buildings on campus looking up at that M on the hill/mountain (not sure which classification it falls under).

I love to see all the little spots left over after too many cups of tea from a single bag. The beauty of over-steeping. I imagine galaxies. Galaxies of tea.

I’m finding myself even more put off than usual with my French homework by the fact that my book still has yet to arrive. I’ve been checking the mailbox like the child waiting to see what his cereal box tops bought him. Meh.

I have an interesting assignment for my alternative methods photography class where I need to take five words and put pictures to them. I’m thinking about the word grime.. getting a little homesick as well. I’m at a bit of a loss for the other words though, so far. I have until next Tuesday to come up with ideas though so perhaps this weekend I’ll figure something out. I’m going out to the bar with my new roommate and I think I’ll bring along my camera and perhaps come up with some ideas. $1 mixers. So far my experiences with bars out here have been cowboys and gambling. I’m really not expecting anything different.