Today, we traveled to Auver-sur-oise. This is a small city about 45 minutes outside Paris. Van Gogh lived there for the last years of his life and many of his masterpieces were painted from the scenery around the city. His painting of the church is one of his most famous and we were able to stand and look at the church from the same angle that Van Gogh painted from. From actually looking at the painting at the Musee D'Orsay and standing along the walkway in front of the church, the influence is obvious. However, we were able to discover that some of the dimensions, such as how much of the side of the church you can actually see, is different from the painting. Also, the textures he created in the painting gives much more of a feeling of life that is obviously taking place at the church. The brush stroke direction along the path, which is not evident along the actual path, causes the focus of the painting to be solely the church and allow for your eyes to follow up and admire the church, as if you were walking the actual rock path.
Also, we visited the grave site of Vincent and his brother Theo. It was in a small cemetery on the outskirts of town surrounded by the fields and scenery that more than one of Van Gogh's paintings depicted. Tomorrow, we travel to Arles where many more such sites are located.
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