Auvers-sur-Oise

In my time abroad, I've come to the realization that a day-trip outside of Paris isn't complete without a grass nap and a photo shoot. Our visit to Auvers-sur-Oise proved to be no different.

With our monthly navigo passes, day trips into the Île-de-France region are super easy on the weekends because our passes are 'de-zoned,' meaning we can go beyond our two zone limit of weekdays. This particular weekend, we decided to make our way to Auvers-sur-Oise, the resting place of Vincent van Gogh.

Vincent van Gogh moved to Auvers-sur-Oise towards the end of his life to be closer to his brother, Theo, and his doctor, Paul Gachet. Van Gogh stayed in a room in the Auberge Ravoux boarding house, which is now a historical landmark. We decided to forgo going inside the boarding house and, instead, walked around the town.

Van Gogh was inspired by many scenes in and surrounding Auvers-sur-Oise so there are signs throughout the town of his paintings in front of the spot that inspired it.  This was one of my favorite parts about the trip, to see the place in real life and then how Van Gogh interpreted it in his paintings.

One of my favorite van Gogh paintings and the building that inspired it!

We had fun creating our own interpretation of this painting. What do you think? ;)

Enjoying the wheat fields on this beautiful spring day!

Vincent and Theodore van Gogh's graves.

All directions.

We had fun exploring the village and making our way to the infamous wheat fields, as well as Vincent and Theo van Gogh's graves.  Afterwards, we found a bakery on the main street of the town and got some sandwiches and pastries and decided to have a picnic in the grass in front of the church. It's our tradition on days trips out of the city to have picnics and grass naps, followed by a photoshoot throughout the town. Auvers-sur-Oise was not an exception.

We had the perfect amount of trees for this shot!

I had to break out my bright pink pants for this beautiful day.

How could I not take a grass nap surrounded by flowers?

I couldn't resist taking a picture in this adorable doorway.

Maybe it's the Disney princess in me but I could see myself living in a tiny French village.

While Paris has so much to offer, it is fun to get out of the city and experience what life is like in the smaller towns of France. It's very refreshing, especially on beautiful spring days!

Until Next Time.