I love working with this girl!! We don’t have as much time together like I do with her big brothers, so I like to take advantage of spending time with her whenever I can.
French Markets
I was able to go to a couple of the farmers markets that Caleb and Natasha go to weekly. This one is in the town of Castelnaudary and isn’t too far from their village. The markets would be full of all kinds of beautiful and colorful produce.
The photo above and those below are at the farmers market in Revel. Of course we stopped at the cheese seller. There was so much freshly made cheeses to choose from. They had cheese made from cow milk as well as goat milk, sheep milk and even bison milk. We mainly got goat and sheep cheese that was SO good!!
The market in Revel was a lot bigger, with more of a variety of things. So many fresh produce, fresh organic meat and cheeses.
This lady sells rotisserie chicken that we purchased multiple times to have for meals.
Revel, France
This was one of the closest towns near my brother’s village. I was able to go to Revel a few times while I was there. One of local farmers markets was there as well as other cute little shops.
This area was where the large farmers market takes place Saturday mornings. I will have a blog just on French markets.
It was in Revel where Natasha and I found THE best French macron we have ever had!!! We made sure we went there a couple of times and got plenty to last us a few days. The best one was the sea salt caramel macron.
The same bakery that had the amazing macrons had other delicious treats, like chocolate éclairs.
Sorèze, France
If you ever get the chance to visit Sorèze, you won’t be disappointed. I fell in love with this place. This was actually the first place that Caleb would travel to. One of his friends Moms had a couple houses here. He stayed at one of her places and helped fix it up.
We went to the museum at Cité de Sorèze which is the building above, on the right. That place was a lot bigger than I had imagined. There was an area that showed things from an old Royal Military school under Louis XVI. There was also a large part of the museum showcasing a lot of the contemporary tapestry artwork of Frenchman Dom Robert.
I was ready to move here, it was one of the most adorable villages I’ve been to.
One of Caleb and Natasha’s friend used to live in this house (pictured above) years ago. When they would come to France for a visit, they would stay here.
Carcassonne, France
We spent the afternoon here in this lovely city, walked around, had some coffee, took in the sights. They hadn’t been to Carcassonne, so they enjoyed it just as much as I did.
For some reason, when I walked through the streets of Carcassonne, I couldn’t help but start to hum and whistle to some of the Les Miserables songs. The streets here reminded me of scenes of the movie. I would have started belting out lyrics but didn't want to embarrass my brother and sister in law, so I stuck with just whistling the songs.
These next photos are seriously some of my favorite photos taken from a car window. It started to rain more as we were driving through town. With the water on the window, the lights in the store windows or lights on the cars, brought so much unique artsy photos.
Some of them remind me of some cool paintings of light.
Cité de Carcassonne
I got to visit this awesome medieval citadel and it was insanely cool!!! It’s situated on a hill near the River Aude, in Southern France. It was occupied as early as the 5th century. The inner rampart was built in 485. The entire Cité is on 27 acres of land. The citadel held the Counts of Carcassonne back in the 12th century.
Now with tourists passing through, the buildings inside the Cité are filled with souvenir shops, restaurants, pubs, and small museums.
This place was so cool to walk around and explore. There is so much history in this Cité and there’s so much to learn about it.
Walking around Labécède-Lauragais
While at Caleb’s we took long walks every day and I really enjoyed the beauty around them. They had so many different trails and pathways to choose from, from roadside walks to forest trails.
This trek was one of my favorites. The trails were covered in the beautiful golden yellow leaves that had fallen from the trees.
Mr. Bottoms loved taking these long walks every day. He would be off his leash and try to be the first, getting ahead of us on the trails.
Some of the places we walked through were so magical and full of beauty.
I told Caleb, you really do live in a wonderful place.
Labécède-Lauragais, France
After my brother has lived here for two years and owning their home for twenty, I finally had the opportunity to visit him and my sister in law, Natasha for 10 days. Their house is the one on the left, with the car parked in front of it.
They have a small garden behind their house here, with some plants and flowers. They also own a small piece of land for a bigger garden, around a five minute walk down the hill.
Their village is super cute and pretty small, with under 200 inhabitants. There is a small post office, a small historical museum, a mayor’s office, a Catholic Church and an elementary school.
As you can see in some of the photos, the roads throughout his village are super narrow and they are only one way.
They have an amazing view out their back window of the Pyrenees mountain range, which is gorgeous. I actually saw a lot of that mountain range flying into France.
I loved seeing the buildings and houses in France but also in Romania, covered in growing vines.
And here is my future home! Haha, I wish! This is a home owned by a British family, as their vacation home.
Even though it was pretty cold during a lot of my trip, it was still a lot of fun. It was great to get to know my sister in law more and catch up with her and my brother. I hadn’t seen him in around 4 years. And I was so happy to finally see their place here in Labécède-Lauragais.
The Harder Family
I loved getting to know this amazing family. They are from the Netherlands and the leaders of the Constanta base.
I worked closely with Dorien with some of the children’s ministry at the base. Bart and Dorien have a wonderful family and are doing such awesome work in Constanta.
I hope to see you guys again soon enough!! Miss you all!!
Bruintjes Family
While working at the Constanta YWAM base, I told the staff that I would love to be able to take photos of them and their families if they wanted. Here is one family I had the privilege of getting to know and now call friends.
They are from the Netherlands and have been working at the base for the past couple of years. I worked closely with Tineke with the girls group ministry there at the base. They also have a ministry called Reclaimed, where they build things out of wood to sell. With Reclaimed, they also work alongside and train young men to work with them.
I loved playing with the kids as well as the other kids at the base. We were around each other often with community time and ministry. Some of the even learned to skateboard while I was there!!
Miss you guys!! Look forward to when we can see each other again!!
Barnard Family
I loved getting to know this wonderful and amazing family!! James is from England and Sarah is American. They have been working with YWAM for years now and have been at the Constanta base for the past couple of years.
I’m glad I had the opportunity to document this beautiful family while I was there. We took photos near the local train station. The area had a lot of new murals that really popped in the photos.
After the photo session we went and grabbed a coffee. This little one kept us entertained by her many cute faces!
Look forward to spending time with you all again one day!! Miss you guys!
YWAM Constanța
I worked closely with YWAM Constanța while I was in Romania. Besides helping them with photography and communications stuff, I was able to help out from time to time with the ministries that they have going on weekly. Of course I photographed them in their ministries, but also got to help out and participate as well.
One of the ministries that they do every Friday afternoon is evangelism in the park. This take places had a large park just a few blocks from the base. It’s a great time to really reach out and connect with the neighborhood. The park is always full of kids and families hanging out.
We would have things like face painting for the kids, field hockey, and other games. Over the 3 months that I was there, I could really see us as a team connecting more with the parents and families in the community.
Every Monday evenings we would have a girls group meeting at the base for girls around 8-12 years old. These girls are from the Henri Coanda community that we work closely with. We pick up the girls and bring them to the base for a fun evening together.
We have a time of worship with the girls, a Bible story, a couple games and a snack with them. The girls love this time together and it was hard for me to say goodbye to them.
Another ministry with the base is working with the kids club in Henri Coanda. We can have anywhere between 10-50 kids each Wednesday afternoon. We would go with play games with the kids, showering them with love and joy.
We would get off the bus and walk through this community to this opened area where we would meet with the kids. As we are walking through the neighborhood, the kids would spot us, run up to us with huge smiles on their faces, giving us a big hug. They would be so excited and full of joy!! They loved spending time with us.
We would have chalk available for the kids to draw pictures on the ground, jump rope, and other games such as red light, green light and duck, duck, goose.
I miss my little buddy! He didn’t want me to put him down. He would have me hold him for the entire time if I let him. He was the sweetest!
Peleș Castle
This was my first castle that I visited while in Romania and when I first saw it, I think my jaw dropped. This place is gorgeous!!!
It’s a Neo-Renaissance castle in the Carpathian Mountains, built within the years of 1873 and 1914.
I loved seeing the Carpathian Mountains as well, they are beautiful.
All of the castles had these little shops nearby selling all kinds of Romania souvenirs, especially souvenirs unique to that specific castle.
Cluj, Romania
I was able to visit the city of Cluj a couple of times actually while I was in Romania. It’s a good sized city, located in northwestern Romania. A friend of mine was moving from the Constanta base to the Cluj base, so I was able to help her move some of her things and enjoy this beautiful city.
I was able to visit the Cluj base a few times and meet some of their staff. An American family that have lived in Romania for a few years as missionaries even took us on a walking tour around old town of Cluj.
I love the open plazas in the old town areas. They said that they have a Christmas market going on in the plaza that is a lot of fun!
Târgu Mureș, România
I was only in this city for a couple of hours, but even in that short amount time, I was able to explore a bit and enjoy it’s beauty.
Târgu Mureș is in the historical region of Transylvania. I was really blessed to see so many cities and towns in that region, which have all been amazing.
I love capturing streets and buildings after the rain. For me, it brings more colors and excitement in the photos.
Sighișoara
I simply loved exploring the cute town of Sighișoara. It was up there on my top 3 places, right next to the city of Brașov.
This was my favorite place to walk through, with all the umbrellas hanging above and the beautiful and bright colored walls.
A couple friends and I were able to stop here for a bit, explore the old town area and grab some lunch.
I fell in love with the areas like this in the old towns of all the cities and towns I visited. All of the cobblestone roads and beautiful houses/businesses full of history and colors.
Sibiu, România
While staying in Copșa Mare (check out previous blog), a friend and I drove over to Sibiu to explore a bit. She said I would enjoy it here and I did, I loved it!
Sibiu îs located în the Transylvania region and known for it’s Germanic architecture in it’s old town area. It got it’s nickname, The City with Eyes, from the iconic eyes on the roofs of the houses and buildings.
This is a Lutheran Cathedral of Saint Mary, gothic style church. It was built in the 14th century and opened in the 15th century.
We took time to walk around the explore the old town of Sibiu and then sat and enjoyed a traditional Romania pastry, enjoying the view of the open plaza (photo above).
Copșa Mare
I stayed a few days in this cute little quaint village of Copșa Mare in the Transylvania region. I was with the DTS school as they were on outreach at the time, in and around this village. I got to see them firsthand with their outreach time and document with photos and videos the work that they were doing, as well as walk around the village.
I was able to go to this beautiful medieval gothic church that was built in the 14th century, and was fortified in the 16th century. It was very interesting to walk through it and get to the top, to have a view of the entire village.
Corvin Castle
Breathtaking, right? This castle was amazing to explore!! This is Corvin Castle, also known as Hunyadi Castle or Hunedoara Castle located in Hunedoara. The first phase of the castle was built in the 14th century, in a Renaissance-Gothic style.
I’m not a Harry Potter fan, but I guess this castle resembles Hogwarts castle from the movies. It wasn’t until after the fact that I realized this from my brother.
There were many areas to explore in and around the castle. Some of the rooms were filled with different artifacts, live music and even some torture chambers from back in the day.
Timișoara, România
“Paris is a place where, for me, just walking down a street that I’ve never been down before is like going to a movie or something. Just wandering the city is entertainment.” - Wes Anderson
I was only in this city for a short period of time, but as I walked around the old town area, I fell in love. I felt as if I was walking on set of a Wes Anderson movie. The amazing buildings, the wonderful colors, the way the sun was setting and hit the area so peacefully.
Timișoara is located on the Western side of Romania. Romania is made up of eight regions. I was able to travel a bit while I was there and went through a few of those regions.
Maybe one day I’ll be able to spend a bit more time exploring the beautiful city of Timișoara.