This is kind of an odd question, but here goes. I'm planning to visit Auvers sur Oise in May, and I'd like to walk around looking for locations in Van Gogh's paintings (e.g. wheatfields) and visit his grave (and his brother Theo's). Call it a pilgrimage. I can't get a sense from the Auvers tourist office site whether there's a Van Gogh walking route one can follow leading you to the painting sites. Has anyone been there who can comment on this?

I also want to get a sense if it will (or might be) muddy, so I know whether to take sneakers or the equivalent. (Because I usually do not.) In other words, if there is a Van Gogh "trail"--is it paved? I'd be a happier pilgrim if I were not worried about messing up nice shoes. Thanks, DejaVu

ps. I asked before about eating at Auberge Ravoux (aka Maison van Gogh) and didn't get any replies from anyone who had actually eaten there re: food quality, value for money. Anybody this try?

Deja Vu, not an odd question at al:
I spent 2 days in Auvers a couple of years ago- I found that I didn't even need a Map-though I am sure you can get one in the shop in the house where he lived.
the reason: it seemed that around every corner I was met with a view or a building that I knew so well frim books. There are also signs posted on all the streets, and it's a small place, so it won't be hard to find your way.
The most moving experience of all was visiting the tiny, dimly light room where Vincent lived and where he spent the last days of his life. It is really so very tiny, and the energy in it is so intense...
You can also go up to the cemetary just outside of town to where Van Gogh and his brother Theo are buried side by side in a simple way. The day I went to the cemetary, there was a fog and mist hanging over the fields there, and even the fields themselves were a familiar sight.

I've been there and it wasn't muddy at all when I was there, but that was in summer. Any place you would walk, there were some kind of road or path, not just dirt (even to the cemetery).

There are excellent maps for walking tours on the Auvers-sur-Oise website, including one for Van Gogh cemetery. Didn't you like them? That's what I used when I went, although you can get the same info from brochures available in the Tourist Office in the town. I just looked at the city's website, but it has a section titled "tourist office" and when you go to that, you go to the "promenades" section for the maps.

I think this should work
http://www.auvers-sur-oise.com/conte...nt3436922.html

Christina: Thanks--yes, I found those before I posted (the map/walking routes), but the site didn't say anything about marking the locales of specific paintings, and only mentioned the church and cemetery. I was curious whether there are, for example, signs/posters/brochures or whatever that would let one find the exact spot where a certain painting was done. E.g. the famous Crows in a Wheatfield. But it sounds like there are, judging from an article I found (see below) when I googled "auvers sur oise muddy" (seriously).

Bellastarr: sounds like you had a great and special experience. I hope I do too!!

I did find this neat article elsewhere online that kind of answered my question. I really cannot wait to visit! He does mention mud, so I'd better pack my mud-friendly shoes just in case.

http://www.salon.com/wlust/feature/1...07feature.html

Everything's paved, except the actual cemetary of course, and there are posters of the paintings he did there in every spot where he did one - it's a no-brainer.

Don't miss the wonderful holographic exhibit at the château there, too.

If you like small villages, you will love Auvers. Just don't go on Tuesday, when museums are closed. We made that mistake; it didn't even dawn on us. (And our hotel concierge didn't see fit to remind us.) So we didn't get to see Vincent's room, and the cafe itself was closed, as was the home of Dr. Gachet, who Van Gogh painted. It was still a great time. Go for a walk along the riverside paths, too. No worries about mud!

Stop by the friendly (at least when i was there) tourist office in the town center near the Auberge Ravoux - the nice lady gave me a map pinpointing the location of all the reproduced Van Gogh and Cezanne and other Impressionists paintings posted around town. No mud is not a factor, everything pretty much paved as it is in villages all over France.

Agree with StCirq about the very creative presentation at the Auvers Chateau.

http://www.chateau-auvers.fr/version_angl/accueil2.html

In fact if doing both the Auvers Chateau and a train trip ask at the train station for a combo ticket they used to sell for train travel and chateau entrance - some special name for these tickets but can't think of name. May not exist anymore but did a few years back.

I didn't remember they had signs for particular sites where Van Gogh painted on the walk, although of course you would know the church because the painting is of that particular church (and you couldn't miss that info from the tourism info, if you didn't know that).

I bought one of those combination chateau entry and RER tickets, also, a few years ago. They were a good deal, I think it made the chateau entry almost free. I really did like the presentation in the chateau, I thought it was very enjoyable and well-done.

I think you could just ask for that as a combination ticket (billet combin&eacute but that the real RATP name is "forfaits loisirs". It covers the roundtrip RER fare plus chateau entry fee. That have those for several other chateaux (like Fontainebleau and Versailles) and some kids amusement parks.

Per earlier Auvers threads, I'm going to take the RER route to Pontoise and then transfer there rather than mess with Gare du Nord (especially since I'm traveling alone and hate that station)...would they sell the combo tickets at the RER stations? (I'd be boarding at St Michel)

Thanks for all this great info!

Oh, Christina, you posted simultaneously and just answered my question re: the combo ticket at the RER. Thanks.

Yes, the church I am not worried about finding. It's the wheatfields in particular...THE wheatfields as in...
http://encarta.msn.com/media_4615397...eatfields.html

I just love Vincent. I can't wait for this journey. I've been to Paris four times previously and never made it out there.

one more Auvers question...

Would it be too busy to go on a Sunday? I realized that May 21, while I'm in Paris, is the exact day Vincent arrived at Auvers. That seems like a special day to make the trip, but if it gets crowded on wknds I'll go on Wed or Thurs.

gee, don't know about Sunday, I don't remember what day I went. It's not as wellknown a tourist location as places in Paris, so I would go then if it's special to you.

As for the combination ticket -- any RER window clerk can sell them, I would think. I got on the train to Pontoise at Invalides and bought mine there.

Be sure you got off at the right stop to transfer as there are two RER stops with similar names (if you get off before Pontoise). In practice, getting off at Pontoise is the safest thing as there is no confusion that way, and that is where the train to Auvers originates anyway, so you wouldn't save any time by getting off the RER from Paris before Pontoise and waiting for it. I definitely would do that rather than fool around at Gare du Nord, as it's much easier.

Thanks for the tip, Christina re: getting off at Pontoise. Definitely sounds easiest.

The wheat fields and corn fields painted by Van Gogh are easy to find - just up from the church near the cemetery i believe. Anyway it's such a small town hard not to find and the fields are adjacent to town. I believe the corn fields with crows were venue of one of last paintings just before he shot himself and featured brooding clouds that some say reflected Vincent's tormented suicidal mind.

DejaVu- Sttangely enough, I am reorganizing me bookshelves today, and out fell my little "Passport" I got the the Van Gogh House in Auvers- It has a little maps of 2 walking tours which are clearly marked with each site of a painting.
Route 1 (8 Painting sites) is a 2 hour walk and includes the wheatfields and the cemetary, And also the church.

Route 2 (5 painting sites) includes the house of Dr. Gachet and the Auvers Chateau where Van Gogh made his fatally successful suicide attempt. The sites are clearly marked with reproduction of each work.

The Van Gogh House Number is
tel: (33) 01 30 36 60 60
fax: (33) 01 30 36 60 61

They allow just 5 people at a time into Vincent's tiny room, which is maintained as it was.

No photography is allowed at all. (Of course, this is the room where he passed away). As I said, it is so tiny, and then you see that he stored his paintings stacked under the small bed and against the walls.
Well, my memory of it is vivid!

Also the number for a reservation to eat at the Auberge Ravoux: (33) 01 30 60 63

All that said, you maty already have this info, and if not, know that it is a few years old, hopefully the numbers are still the same!

Hope you have a good trip!

Auvers revoir!

Thanks BellaStarr and everybody!
(ps. Today is VvG's birthday. Happy Birthday, Vincent!)

I wonder if they serve absinthe, the 'green fairy' at the Aubverge Ravoux as they did in the Van Gogh's stay there - supposedly Van Gogh's madness was in part influenced by gulping too much absinthe with the nefarious Wormwood extract in it - others say he had a habit of licking his paint brushes and the paint had lead in it and lead helped cause the madness. Others will say all artists are a little mad.