I promise you will all be rewarded with a big report of our holiday when we get back as I feel quite demanding with my 4th question; here goes:
2 days in Paris, 5 days in the Provence, 7 days in Plum Village (40K East of Bordeaux), then 5 more days in Paris
My son is 17 (as some of you know) and among his favourite artists are Cezanne, Van Gough and Monet. We have great advice about how to get to Monet���s garden from KDKSAIL by researching past forums.
What do you experts think about a visit to Auvers-sur-Oise? Not sure if we���ll have time but I can���t find any info about where it is or how to get there. The SNCF site that offers a tour is in French. I would love some help with this.
We are planning to leave for the south on Sunday the 3rd of July and take the TGV to Arles, arriving around 1pm (3 1/2 hrs), spend a day and a half shared between Arles and Aix-en-Provence. Do you think this is enough time to enjoy both places?
If not then Aix-en-Provence would be our choice as I���ve just now done a little research in Fodors 2001 and found that the people of Arles treated Vincent Van Gough very badly during the time he stayed there (1889) and so I think it would be nicer to visit Auvers-sur-Oise instead. I am not sure if a TGV goes directly to Aix-en-Provence. The SCNF website from here is very temperamental.
We will be without a car. Will that be okay? Also we will need to book a place to stay on the Sunday night. That shouldn���t be a problem if I do a search in this forum
My aunty is going to pick us up from Marseille (or possibly Aix-en-Provence: same distance to her home) on the evening of the 4th. She lives 40K East of both towns in Saint Maximin La Sainte Baume and has plans for three days of sight seeing. She and her husband are Dutch but speak fluent French and English (phew!!!!). She is actually my mums cousin and I haven���t met her before. It���s all very exciting.
And yes I will write and run all this by her but wanted to do a bit of homework on it first.
Thanks again, please reply
Deanne
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The great thing about Auvers is that they have enameled posters of Van Gogh%26#39;s paintings placed in front of the actual sights, giving you a great perspective of his %26quot;eye.%26quot; The grave sight is very moving, as you approach from the fields with crows that he painted shortly before his death and you can visit the Hotel where he ended his days.
If it is Van Gogh you are after, spend the day in Aix and give Arles a mix... it will simplify your life and it is a town worth the day and 1/2.
I can%26#39;t help with the SNCF site today, but I am sure that KDK will come ot bat on this one.
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When I went to Arles (some time ago now) they had those posters in front of the Van Gogh painting scenes too. Loved it. There%26#39;s the sanitorium to see (exterior only from memory) and some Roman ruins here and there. If you%26#39;ve done Pompei, Rome or Bath recently they don%26#39;t compare though.
Yet I agree that Aix is probably the preference if you have to choose because it is a prettier village with that charming main street. Be alert for bag snatchers/pickpockets while you%26#39;re sitting in the cafes. All the Cezanne sights (museum; the Cezanne walk; his house) would easily take a day and just wandering in the village is lovely.
I don%26#39;t see how you could do both towns in one and a half days unless you only wish to do a quick drive around.
Haven%26#39;t been to Auvers so I can%26#39;t compare.
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I didn%26#39;t know that van Gogh was treated badly by the people of Arles. He invited Gauguin to stay with him in Arles and wrote to Theo of his dream of establishing an artists%26#39; colony there. Certainly the year he spent there, and the subsequent year when he was in the psychiatric hospital outside St. Remy were the most prolific of his life.
For me, the most moving of the sites in that area linked to the life of van Gogh is the hospital outside St. Remy. The room where he stayed has been carefully preserved, and can be visited and there is a small museum dedicated to him there. The chapel can also be visited and is very moving. There are, as CKandK says, enamel reproductions of his paintings in the countryside close to the hospital of the places he painted. Many of these places - olive groves, quarries, the Alpilles, are remarkably little changed from when he was painting there.
All of that said, I think I would agree with phread and CKandK that Aix would be a better place to visit. The town itself is very inviting and was, of course, Cezanne%26#39;s home for most of his life. You can pick up a map of Cezanne sights at the tourist office, or join a %26quot;Walking in the Footsteps of Cezanne%26quot; tour, if they are still doing those tours. I don%26#39;t think they were an every day thing, perhaps only on Saturdays, though it%26#39;s been a few years since I actually went on the tour, so my memory of the details is fuzzy.
The Cezanne %26quot;museum%26quot; in the house where he lived, is frankly disappointing, and since it is not easy to access without a car, I would give it a miss.
You can take the TGV directly to Aix. The trip takes about three hours.
Auvers is just a short distance outside Paris aned very easy to reach. I%26#39;d love to be able to help you with the page you mention on the SNCF site, but I cannot find it. Could you post a link to it? To be honest, though, I wonder if a trip to Auvers would be a good use of your limited time in Paris? Both the Marmottan and d%26#39;Orsay museums, and also the Pompidou, would be better to visit, I think, given your son%26#39;s interests.
If you do go to either Aix or Arles, I think you and your son will have a great time, and either will make an interesting contrast to Paris.
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You guys are such treasures. I have been sneaking a look at my message on and off all afternoon in the hope that you will reply ��� and off course you have! Thanks so much.
Well it is decided; we will travel via TGV straight to Aix from Paris and enjoy a day and a half there. Perhaps we won���t visit Auvers. I am absolutely certain that Tom will return to Paris, without his mum, in the not too distant future; he can visit Auvers then.
Here is a snippet from Fodor���s 2001 for Irish Rovr re Arles and van Gough: ���Though it makes every effort today to make up for its misjudgement, Arles treated Vincent van Gough very badly during the time he passed here near the end of his life. It was 1888 when he settled in to work in Arles with an intensity and tempestuousness that drove away his colleague and companion Paul Gauguin and alienated his neighbours. In 1889 the people of Arles circulated a petition to have him evicted, a shock that left him more and more at a loss to cope with his life and led to his voluntary commitment to an insane asylum in nearby St-Remy���.
The SNCF site for Auvers is: http://www.transilien.com/FR/TouAuv.htm
When I click on ���english speaking��� it takes me to another site ��� oops, sorry, I���ve just punched Paris and Auvers-sur-Oise in and it is working beautifully.
I have also just been having another go on the SNCF site for our other train trips and have had more luck this evening ��� it is very temperamental. I cannot get anything to work for Marseille to Bordeaux or Bordeaux to Paris but I did get it working this time for Paris to Aix. However right before my eyes the fare from Paris to Aix went from $76.00 Euro for a full fare to $152.00. The reason I had another look was because the first quote didn���t show ���between 12 and 25 years���. I lost the quote for Paris to Aix at that price but I still have on my computer Paris to Marseille $50.00 (youth), $72.70 (adult) and Marseille to Aix $10.70 and $12.20.
I���ve done my maths and I think I will relax and let it go as I can purchase two Eurail tickets allowing us four days each train travel for $172.00 Euro and $195.00. Three weeks ago my aunty said we could get discount tickets from Marseille to Bordeaux for $40.00 Euro so when I roughly add up the three train trips with SNCF, the Eurail offer works out equivalent or a little better than the cheaper SNCF prices. Wow how confusing was that. It is 11.53 pm and I think I should be in bed.
Thanks again for the advice. I feel very comfortable now about emailing my aunt and telling her our plans
Deanne
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I%26#39;ve had the deepest respect for the combined knowledge of the forum since I first saw it but my question is this... is there ANYthing you guys don%26#39;t know?
;)
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JustGrace -
Speaking as only one of three responders to the original post, the answer is that there are a vast number of things I do not know - including the info that the inhabitants of Arles sought to have van Gogh ousted from the town. This does not surprise me though. I think van Gogh%26#39;s increasing mental fragility must have made him pretty scary to the people in that small provincial town.
Just to add a little to what I said about Arles, it is very much worth visiting, and not only for the Roman theatre and arena. But I think Avignon would be a better center to explore the lower Provence area without a car, and the area arouind the Alpilles (Maussane/Fontvieille/St. Remy) a better center with a car.
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