Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Bienvenue a Auvers sur Oise

Today we took a train to Auvers sur Oise, where Vincent Van Gogh spent his final weeks and made over 70 paintings in his short time there. We were greeted at the train station by this mural as we passed under the tracks.




Our first stop was Auberge Ravoux, which is where Vincent rented a rom while in Auvers.



Across the street we saw the the Auvers Town Hall which you an see has not changed much since Vincent painted it in 1890.







Throughout the town their were reproductions of Van Gogh's paintings on signs next to where he painted. We were following in his footsteps throughout the town of Auvers. At times it felt like we were standing in one of his paintings. As we made our way through the town, we came across Le Parc Van Gogh where there is a statue of Van Gogh. You may notice there is a group of children in the park who were there on a field trip, school is still in session here in France!





Further down the road, we passed the Notre Dame D'Auvers, the Gothic church that he painted.




Just up the hill from the church is the cemetery where Vincent and his brother Theo are buried. Both graves are together at the back of the cemetery.




On our path we came across the spot where Van Gogh painted what many people believe was his last painting, Wheat Field with Crows.



Standing here in the middle of the wheat fields with the clouds swirling in the sky, we decided this would be the perfect spot to set up our easels.


               


We had such a wonderful time painting there on the same spot that Van Gogh had painted so long ago. Although not a Van Gogh masterpiece, our paintings will be a reminder of the day we followed in the great master's footsteps through the town of Auvers.

French phrase of the day:
we walk  /   nous marchons   /   noo mar-shohn


stay tuned...




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