Auvers Sur Oise

Auvers Sur Oise

As much as Paris has been an inspirational hub for some of the world’s most renowned artists, even they enjoyed a more serene escape from time to time. And it was not only Vincent van Gogh. Paul Cézanne, Camille Pissarro, and Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot spent time in the same wonderful hamlet, Auvers Sur Oise too.

Auvers Sur Oise, about 30 kilometers north of Paris, was an escape for the ailing and tormented Vincent van Gogh. Seeking the treatment of Dr. Paul Gachet, whom van Gogh later figured to be in an even worse state than he was, situated himself in rooms in L’Auberge Ravoux where later he died. Today the rooms where he stayed have been preserved, though it is no longer a rooming house. The restaurant remains much as it did in his time.

Van Gogh spent the last few months of his life in Auvers Sur Oise and is buried among a number of notable influential people from all walks of life. Indeed van Gogh’s ever-supportive brother, Theo, is buried in the plot next to him having passed away just six months after his brother. Van Gogh died of infection from a bullet in his chest that wasn’t removed after his attempted suicide. The cemetery is just a short walk from where he painted some of his most famous pastoral scenes.

Despite this tragedy, or perhaps because of it, the city has been persevered to be much as it was in his time. The serenity is palpable and unmistakable. The stone buildings with colorful shutters and flower planters, fields of corn and wheat bending in the breeze, winding paths and stairways, gardens and churches will lower your blood pressure without a single pill in the prescription.

The city is easily accessible from Paris via an express SNCF train from Gare du Nord in the northeasterly quarter of the city. The express runs Saturdays and Sundays leaving Gare du Nord around 10:00 am and returning a little after 6:00 pm from Auvers Sur Oise. The fare is less than $10.00 round trip. If you miss the express, the trip will take about an hour and a half back to Paris. Should you want to be certain to not miss the return train, there’s a fine old book and magazine store built inside an old box car where you will be right next to the station.

Central to most towns in Europe is a church, sitting high on a hill. Built before van Gogh’s time, the Church of Auvers Sur Oise is the subject of one of his paintings (now hanging in the Musée d’Orsay) and remains in full use today.

The largest building in the old city is château de Leyrit. It seems a bit out of place given its grandeur in such an idyllic town, but there it is with its topiary, labyrinth, fountains and gardens. Tours are available daily.

The city has a self-guided walking tour to ensure that you take in the various important sites it has to offer. Many of the stops along the tour feature signs with images of the van Gogh’s vision (his completed painting) of the area so that you can compare pretty much what he saw with what he painted.

There are several restaurants and cafés along the town’s main street that are perfect for lunch al fresco. One can discover the entire hamlet on foot too so there’s simply no need for a car or even to bother with a bicycle, especially since photo opportunities abound everywhere you look.

There also several small museums and museum gift shops where you can purchase various posters and books on van Gogh and other artists, but you’ll find no original van Gogh paintings in any of them. 


Unfortunately, we had to abandon our tradition of capping off the day with a cool scoop of gelato. There were simply no gelato stands in sight.

Sainte-Chapelle

Sainte-Chapelle

Quite a few years ago I took a young man from eastern Texas along with me for a drive to Point Lobos, and Monterey, in California (we had a day off before a conference). Having seen only flat and mostly dry (as in sandy) land all of his life, when we got out of the car at the top of the hill at Point Lobos, I could see in his face that he had indeed “found religion”.  That’s pretty much the affect I suspect parishioners and many other first-time visitors to Sainte-Chapelle felt on seeing the stained glass on the second floor of the chapel for the first time. It’s simply other worldly.

 

This Gothic cathedral was built at the behest of Louis IX specifically to house his collection of Christian relics including Christ’s Crown of Thorns, Image of Edessa and roughly 30 other Christian relics.

While these relics had been purchased from the Emperor of Constantinople, Baldwin II, the money was paid to a Venetian pawnbroker. The relics arrived in Paris, from Venice, in 1239. The King himself carried the relics the final steps, an act memorialized in the “Relics of the Passion” window on the south side of the chapel. Chapel construction started around 1239, and it was consecrated April 26, 1248. Until the chapel was completed the relics were stored mostly in an ornate silver chest, the “Grand-Chasse” at the Chateau de Vincennes and the Chateau de Saint-Germain-en-Laye. Grand indeed. The case cost nearly three times as much as the chapel itself.

Sainte-Chapelle was designed to use abutments and iron clamps rather than flying buttresses to create the structural integrity required for its 50-foot window openings; fifteen in all. The chapel is the largest in-place 13^th century stained glass installation in the world. Though new restoration is currently underway, thankfully, they have kept as much of the chapel open for public viewing as possible.

Sainte-Chapelle was part of the royal palace compound, Palais de la Citié, or Conciergerie, that has now become part of the French court system. Therefore, one must queue up to pass through metal detectors to enter the court plaza to gain access to the chapel itself. So to avoid long lines it’s actually best to visit the chapel on weekends.

Entry to Sainte-Chapelle is via the lower floor. This floor was utilized as the Parish church for all the inhabitants of the King’s household. While it is quite pleasing, it does little to prepare you for the magnificence of the experience available just a few steps above.

Damaged during the French Revolution, the church was restored in the 19^th Century. Apparently the restoration project adjusted many of the original painted colors to reflect current tastes more so than the original masterwork. In examining paint samples, current restorers have determined that the original colors were quite intense, nearly matching that of the stained glass windows themselves.

Also, fearing the worst during World War II, many of the windows were removed for safer storage. Another restoration is currently underway to return the Chapelle to its original beauty.

About two thirds of the stained glass windows are true originals. Some were destroyed during the French Revolution and some were removed to provide light for construction changes in 1803. Since not all of the glass removed was returned to its original position there is some speculation regarding whether it was misappropriated or simply damaged.

The stone sculptures that decorate the side pillars represent the twelve apostles.

As has become a bit of a habit, after touring the chapel we topped off the day with a bit of famous Berthillon ice cream (mine was hazelnut!) on Ile de Sainte-Louis.