Autumn is the time..

..for a perfecty lovely little cup of tea - or two..

And to drink this healthy beverage from a beautifully decorated cup..

The English are so skilled in creating those lovely cups. This (above) is a Royal Albert cup.
And this a "Royal Swan"
And this is "Charlotte". And this is the Bavarian Rose. They are all very romantic and feminine and I have a hard time imagine Prince Albert drinking from his cup above ( with his little finger raised??) They can all be found and ordered from www.tableandhome.com
Now, the cups below are pieces of art and was designed by the Catalan architect Gaudi.

Marvellous, aren´t they?
As for great teas? Well some of my favourites are from Mariage frères in Paris whose lovely Salon du Thé in Le Marais certainly is worth a detour. (30 Rue de Bourg-Tibourg) And their pastry! You can order their new 2008 "flushes" from their home page. Reports are increasing about the benefits of regular tea consumption. And they are not talking about "the perfectly lovely cup of tea" that John Brown - her Scottish personal servant - used to serve the late Queen Victoria. Because that one was surely laced with Scotch! (Perhaps it worked wonders after all because of the age the Queen reached!) They even had a teapot modelled after her.
See this humoristic monster-wounder below! I have never seen anything like it..
Awesome! How I would love to have one!

The Young Queen Victoria Limited Edition Teapot
from the
Maureen Berry Collection