| Subject: Re: Day trips from Paris-Auvers sur Oise |
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I second Ed's recommendation of Auvers sur Oise, north of Paris (about an
hour on the train which slumbers along). My friends and I had a wonderful
day there, but, since we were all painters, I thought it might be a bit off
the beaten track for others; but obviously not so. We took the train to
Pontoise (where Pissarro painted; we did not have time to see much of the
town) and changed trains for Auvers. Walking into town, there is a small
park with a quirky sculpture of Van Gogh himself. You can pay to see the
room when Van Gogh died, but it is just that - an empty room. The commentary
was in French of course, and a very kind man translated bits and pieces for
us. We picked up a town map at the tourist office, a lovely building with a
small gallery upstairs. We walked (all uphill) past the church which VanGogh
painted to the cemetery where he and his brother are buried. We returned to
town through the wheatfields (with the requisite crows); visited the Absinthe
Museum, a small private one dedicated to the outlawed liquor - if you are
into trivia it is worth the few minutes it takes. We wandered the streets of
this lovely town, flowers were abundant. We also did the mansion which has
an Impressionists Audio-Video program. For us, since we are artists, the
information was redundant. It was well done, but we wish we had passed it
and left time to visit Dr. Cachet's house. Dr. C was Van Gogh's private
physician who was paid with paintings! We decided to take the bus back to
Pontoise and enjoyed the backroads and villages we went through. There are
posters of Van Gogh's paintings at the various locations he used. So you see
the then and the now. Make sure you are familiar with the return train
or RER schedules so that you aren't stranded at the end of the day.
Beth (DC suburbs) |