Following the Footsteps of Vincent van Gough - whole day
This is a highly interesting day for van Gogh enthusiasts. Spend the morning with a Highlights Walk of the Musee d’Orsay, lingering longer in the van Gogh room. The paintings will come alive as my historian recounts their life and their passion for art.
Then head out to Auvers-sur-Oise, where van Gogh lived his last days. (About a 30-minute drive from Paris and here we have lunch). We can explore this pretty village which so inspired van Gogh. His special friendship with the kind Dr Gachet, his love of the open spaces and clean air, his last frenzied painting are all recounted. We walk his last footsteps into the wheat fields he painted so often. His attacks of madness had become too frequent and too violent and in these wheat fields one day he wandered off alone and shot himself. He died in his beloved brother’s arms a few days later.
Theo wrote to his mother, “Vincent rests in a sunny spot amidst the wheat fields. Life was such a burden to him. Now as often happens, everyone is full of praise for his talents. Oh mother! He was so my own, own brother”. A poignant walk to his final resting place.
We take time to visit his final burial spot, next to his brother’s, where the two graves entwined in ivy.
Afterwards, we head over to the pretty Village Montmartre, in the shadow of the Sacre Coeur. We’ll take to the streets where van Gogh lived with his brother Theo and artist pals and explore this enchanting area of Paris . The lives of Toulouse Lautrec, Renoir, and Picasso come alive as we see where they lived, worked and played. During this walk, we shall take time for an afternoon aperitif.
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