Love, Tuesday...
Today I wanted to share with you some of the fun things we got when we were in France last summer for our 2nd Art & Faith Creative Retreat in France & Belgium, AND talk about our upcoming trip next year that YOU can join us on!
We LOVE taking small groups to these beautiful countries and sharing our favorite flea markets, art stores, restaurants and hidden gems with them. Of course we also go to the museums, the beautiful gardens and take time to get out into the country as well. But the above picture is just what we scored in Paris at one of the best flea markets in town and a couple art stores we stopped into.
This was inside one of the art stores… isn’t it lovely? Charvin is right off the Seine and is definitely a tiny but well worth it place to gaze upon their paints and other art supplies.
The green boxes on the Seine are another fun afternoon pastime for the ladies who come on our retreats. The green boxes have been around for hundreds of years and the banks of the Seine would not be the same without the established “Bouquinistes” of Paris. The booksellers and their green painted boxes have truly become one of the many iconic symbols of Paris. It was once said that “The Seine is the only river in the world that runs between two bookshelves!”
One of our favorite places to linger is in the St. Germain area of Paris. All the little streets have great boutiques, art galleries and restaurants that are so beautiful. Our friend owns this tiny floral shop that we always go to for flowers for our ladies…
After we see the sights in Paris, we get on a private bus and get some fresh air out in the countryside as we make our way to Belgium!
This time we have a surprise location we will be stopping at to enjoy an ART CLASS! I’ve wanted to do this for years and we are so excited to share more details with you soon!
Isn’t this the cutest street? We combine France & Belgium because they are so close together and it’s just a few hours from Paris to Bruges, Belgium. We love Belgium and the city of Bruge especially. This store above happens to be our favorite home and kitchen store and we found it on the LAST day… but we will for sure be back with a new group next year!
Bruges is a city full of beautiful architecture within a walkable city. One of our favorite places in Europe and known as the “Venice of the North.”
You can see why they call if that, with the canals running through the whole city, which smells like beer and chocolate depending on where you are walking. hahah
We found a little flea market on the banks of the river in Bruges right outside our hotel, and I found an old dinner bell from an abandoned farm for our new farmhouse we’re building and lugged it all the way home with me! I can’t WAIT to put it up on our front porch one day.
A day out in the countryside can also lead us to a goat cheese farm or a family run vineyard… we will choose together what places to explore.
We LOVE Paris, but getting out into the fresh air and seeing farms or windmills or rows upon rows of vineyards through a bike ride or walking tour does something for the soul.
On top of all the beautiful places we get to explore together, the art we will see AND make, and the connections we will take with us… the heart of our retreats is time in God’s Word and in fellowship with all the women who join us. We really hope you will want to come along with us and experience traveling to these places with that at the heart of it. It truly does connect us to God’s beautiful world and His Word in an incredible way!
We are so excited to be preparing for our NEXT Art & Faith Creative Retreat in France and Belgium!
This time we have a new location to add to Paris and Bruges and we are looking forward to sharing all the details in the next couple months with everyone.
If YOU are interested in joining us for this 10 night - 11 day Art & Faith Creative Retreat, we would LOVE to hear from you. We will be starting an “Interest List” for 2020 now. All you have to do is go up to the top of our website and click on CONTACT and let us know you’d like to be added to this list. We don’t have a definite date for 2020 yet, but are looking at either Spring or early Summer. If you have a preference, we’d love to hear that as well.
We keep these retreats small, with only 15 people total so we can get around easier and really have a time to connect and enjoy each place we go together.
So let us know if you would like to be a part of our next retreat! We look forward to meeting you and seeing what the Lord has in store for us together.
Have a BLESSED Tuesday everyone!
Hugs,
Laura McCollough
