Oh God, it’s happened. We have become “those Parisians.” I’ve
read about “those Parisians” and I had promised that we would never become one
of them, but it has happened. We are now officially those Parisians who leave
the city on the weekends and invade the countryside in search of sunshine,
nature and “an experience.” You can tell who we are… We are the ones wearing blazers
and loafers. My husband’s idea of a relaxed outfit is jeans… With a blazer. I am
waiting for him to pull out his Lacoste short sleeve shirts to complete his summer
wardrobe.
I forced my entire family and caregivers to wake up at the
crack of dawn on a Saturday morning to get ready for our weekend adventure. I
even meticulously researched our adventure. It was my husband’s birthday and
Father’s Day so I wanted to do something special for him but let’s be honest,
it’s always about me. But that’s because I’m the fun one in the family. If I
don’t plan these activities, who will??!! They will thank me later. Remember
when my husband didn’t want to go to the Napoleon auction and now whenever we
have friends over he proudly shows our guests our auction winnings (Louis XVI’s
wallpaper) as I discreetly roll my eyes.
My idea of a fun weekend usually involves nature and
something cultural. I don’t do Six Flags, water parks, or music festivals. In
fact, my idea of hell is a jazz festival. I did a little Google research to
investigate what kind of fun excursions there were to do one hour outside of
Paris. My husband was only up for driving one hour this weekend because next
weekend we are looking at an 8 hour drive to Provence and the following weekend
a two-hour drive to Normandy. My husband doesn’t know about the Normandy
excursion yet but we have to go because there is a fleamarket and a house I
want to rent. I think it’s best to keep him on a need-to-know basis.
So, what’s there to do one hour outside of Paris? Lots!
Château de Chenonceau, Monet’s garden in Giverney, Versailles, Bois de Bologne, or the farmers
market of Saint Germain-en-Laye. We have a special day planned in July to visit
Château de Vaux le Vicomte for a dinner at dusk in the royal gardens lit by
2000 candles but what could we do this weekend?
Well, just you wait until you see what I found!
Completely unbeknownst to me, Vincent van Gogh lived in a
quaint little town one hour outside of Paris called Auvers-sur-Oise. This is
where he painted some of his best works and it is also sadly, the little town
where he shot himself in the chest and died. I immediately called my husband
and said, “Guess where we’re going this weekend?”
I spent the entire day Thursday researching our adventure
and I am now the foremost authority on Vincent van Gogh. Just kidding, a
gentleman named David Brooks is the authority and I spent the entire day on his
website: http://www.vggallery.com/. Here are some interesting facts about Vincent van Gogh’s life in
Auvers-sur-Oise in 1890.
Vincent van Gogh spent the last 70 days of his life in Auvers-sur-Oise
and in this time he painted 77 pieces.
One of these pieces is the famous Portrait of Dr. Gachet which sold at Christie’s in three minutes
for $82.5 million.
Dr. Gachet was Vincent’s doctor who was treating him for
psychological illnesses but whom Vincent said that he appeared, “sicker than I
am, I think, or shall we say just as much.”
Vincent van Gogh was a fiery ginger who often had heated
arguments with his brother, Theo. However, Theo was his greatest supporter and
died six months after Vincent. They are buried side-by-side in the little
village cemetery.
The famous church that van Gogh immortalized in his
painting, The Church of Auvers, is
located in this little town. So is the local mairie that Vincent painted, Auvers Town Hall on 14 July 1890, that was directly across from
his apartment.
Vincent rented a tiny attic room ( N° 5) of the Ravoux Inn
for 3.50 French francs per day full board. Vincent shot himself in the chest in
the wheat fields and managed to drag his body back to his little apartment
where he died the following day in his brother Theo’s arms.
Delve into Vincent van Gogh’s life and history to get a
little glimpse of his motivation and passions HERE.
We arrived to Auvers-sur-Oise at exactly 10 AM and were the
first guests to visit Vincent’s apartment. It isn’t exactly like this circa
1800s building was wheelchair friendly so I had to sit my sorry ass outside
with my caregiver while David and Gracie were lucky enough and able-bodied
enough to be able to go upstairs to see his apartment. Because my husband is
the greatest husband on the face of the earth, he took pictures for me even
though it was not allowed. Let’s take a look…
Our next stop was a very special lunch in the restaurant of
the Ravoux Inn where Vincent van Gogh ate every day at table number five. The
restaurant has been preserved aesthetically in its original state… State of
fucking fabulousness. I kept having to remind myself that this was not
Disneyland and that this was real. This was the exact space that Vincent van
Gogh inhabited every day. He breathed here, ate here and drank here! On a
creepy side note, I always tell my husband that I am sort of excited to die
because I envision myself having lunch with the likes of Vincent van Gogh,
Coco Chanel, Yves St. Laurent, Eugene Delacroix, Edith Piaf, JD Salinger and my
grandparents… my favorite writers, poets, decorators, artists and singers.
Okay, back to reality… Let’s take a look at the restaurant and our dejeuner…
After lunch, we took a little walk to the country cemetery
where Vincent van Gogh is buried next to his beloved brother, Theo. I thought
that there would be some big hoopla commemorating Vincent van Gogh’s burial
site but no… Just a modest gravestone surrounded by verdant green ivy thought
to have originated from Dr. Gachet’s garden. There he was in this simple
country cemetery and I couldn’t think of anything better. He was surrounded by wheat
fields, red poppy flowers and all of the landscapes that he loved to paint. I
kept saying to everyone, “Can you believe that Vincent van Gogh is just lying
there under the dirt. Right there!” The cemetery is just up the road from where
Vincent painted the famous church. Let’s take a look…
Here are a few more examples of the pieces that Vincent van
Gogh painted during his 70 days in Auvers-sur-Oise…
If you would like to see (and you should) all 77 paintings that Vincent van Gogh painted during his 70 day stay in Auvers-sur-Oise, France, click HERE.
I could have stayed in the little town exploring for hours
but my counterparts were ready to get back to the city. They had had enough
culture for one day. But for me, it was different. All those years growing up
in Missouri and California so far removed and now here I was smack dab in the
middle of where one of the greatest painters of all time sought inspiration. How
many times have I looked at his paintings at school, in books and in museums
happy to be even in close proximity to his work and here I was in Auvers-sur-Oise
where Vincent van Gogh would get off the train, go to his apartment, eat his
dinner and paint some of the greatest artworks that ever were to be! Be still
my heart!
I don’t even care if I am one of “those Parisians” because
this is a day that I will never forget. David should be so happy that I did this
for him for his birthday. :-)
*All photos by my handsome husband.
