Death of a madman

The majority of Tuesday was spent in Auvers-sur-Oise, a commune located in the northwestern suburbs of Paris. It was there where the brilliant Vincent Van Gogh spent the final few months of his life completing numerous masterpieces before committing suicide. Our group (sans Pam who opted to take an intensive French course instead) boarded the RER train and toured his final resting spot. Though the area’s museum was not open on Tuesday, we ventured throughout the grounds and found very unique places. We took pictures in front of L’Auberge Ravoux (the house where Van Gogh died), at Château d’Auvers (a large mansion with a pristine landscape view), a corn/wheat field, and even at the cemetery had the ACTUAL grave of Vincent Van Gogh (who was buried next to his brother Theo). It surprisingly rained (briefly for the first time since our stay in Paris), so we also took refuge in the nearby church. 🌌 

After finishing the rest of our snacks at the bank of the Oise River, we headed back toward the train en route to a quaint town we passed by earlier in the morning. During our short stay there, we perused local shops and brasseries. To our amazement, the church there was also closed (coincidence?)! Earlier, Sarah and Christina braved a squatting toilet incident, but they seemed to have handled the situation with finesse. Ugh… Tuesdays… 🙃