Visit to Auvers

The Church at Auvers, June 1890
Vincent Van Gogh
(March 30, 1853 - July 27, 1890)
One of his last works

The Church at Auvers, Nov. 1996
As realized by Fuji
(Photo by RR)

Auvers-sur-Oise is located about an hour and a half from Paris. The town itself is attractive enough to deserve a visit, but since it was the place where Van Gogh spent his last days, it becomes even more interesting.

You can get there from the Gare du Nord station. After about an hour, you will arrive in the small town of Pontoise, where you have to descend and wait for the next train to Auvers, which lies only a few minutes away. The train schedule seems designed to make sure you stay a while in Pontoise. Actually, it is a good transition point, because soon you will be entering another world.

As you walk out of the small Auvers station, you will note the lack of commercialism. No one will try to sell you a Van Gogh T-Shirt, nor will you see the "Bar and Grill Vincent". In fact you will have more than a little trouble finding your way around. The afternoon we made this trip, we knew more or less where we wanted to go, but had to ask, and we received conflicting and incomplete information. Finally, a resident led us down the street and pointed the way to the church. You have to climb a steep flight of stone stairs and walk some more up the hill, but when you get there you will swear you have been there before, and so you have if you have seen Van Gogh's picture. The church dates back to the 12th century, and today it looks about the same as when the artist painted it shortly before his death in 1890.

Further on, up the hill, and a mile or so along the country road, you will come upon the cemetery for the town of Auvers-sur-Oise. There is a gate, and a faded "key" will direct you to the left side of the cemetery. There, about half way back you will see a pair of graves covered with more flowers than the other graves. (We were there in November, and the display included sunflowers). This is the resting place of both Vincent Van Gogh and his brother Theo.

Van Gogh was well enough known in the town, although there seemed a studied effort to ignore him. This feeling seems to hang over into today. The people of Auvers know very well who the artist was, but other things seem more important. Originally the church was against his burial here because of his suicide.

On your way to and from the cemetery you can see other locales of Van Gogh paintings, marked by small signs, with a reproduction of the scene you are looking at.

You will soon be back in one of the world's largest cities, but it is unlikely that you will forget your visit to the town of Auvers-sur-Oise.

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RR NR (Revised 5/8/02)