Emily in France 🇫🇷 Discovering Van Gogh in Auvers

A must-see Paris exhibit plus a countryside jaunt

It’s surprisingly easy to forget what an amazing place Paris is to live in. It wasn't until I started working as a tour guide again back in 2013, after a two-year hiatus, that I found myself realizing nearly every day – and it really did feel like a realization, rather than ever-present knowledge – how incredible it is to spend every day in this city, as I accompanied groups to the Eiffel Tower, to the Louvre.

Now, sixteen years after moving to Paris, I suppose it's understandable that I would get a bit… jaded? Complacent? Le mot juste escapes me. But luckily, it's a feeling that rarely lasts long: All I have to do is engage in an experience like a recent double-barreled conversation with Vincent Van Gogh for it all to come right back.

There’s currently an exhibit on at the Musée d’Orsay that explores Van Gogh’s final 70 days, which the Dutch artist spent in Auvers-sur-Oise, not far from Paris. During this handful of summer weeks, Van Gogh produced 73 paintings (yes, more than one a day), before fatally shooting himself in the chest.

The exhibit, which I visited with my mother, doesn't just unite a surprising number of these works. It also displays many of Van Gogh’s sketches and even his used palette…

…and his sketchbook.

I cannot recommend the exhibit highly enough. (Be sure to book in advance!) It notably showed the liveliness and light that Van Gogh infused into landscapes that, in and of themselves, are somewhat more austere than those that had inspired him in southern Arles or Saint-Rémy. But I found them breathtaking, especially one image of crows flying over a golden field, a cobalt sky above them.

Friends… this is that field.

Auvers-sur-Oise is a small village easily reachable by Paris, so this past Sunday, almost on a whim, we bundled up and got ourselves on a train. With a choice of changing trains or riding direct to nearby Saint-Méry, we opted for the latter, which meant we also enjoyed a 25-minutes’ walk across a picturesque bridge to the center of Auvers.

The tourism board has done an excellent job ensuring that any pilgrims seeking Van Gogh surely find him. Here he is standing in a park bearing his name…

…and here’s one of many installations throughout town that show Van Gogh’s painting alongside the real-life location where he produced it.

Some spots were closed for the season, like this auberge where Van Gogh spent his last days and ultimately met his demise two days after administering the fatal gunshot wound.

But others are timeless, like the church that inspired this famous painting…

…the roots he painted on the morning of the very day where he attempted to take his own life…

…and even his tomb in the local cemetery, where he is buried alongside his brother and closest confidante, Theo.

There’s also a museum devoted to the works of Charles François Daubigny which, on the occasion of our visit, was hosting an exhibit of works that most inspired Van Gogh, displayed alongside placards quoting the letters in which he described them, usually to Theo. Immersing ourselves in the places and art that so inspired Van Gogh reminded me for the millionth time – because apparently, I still need reminding – just how lucky I am to live in Paris.

Cheese of the Week

Bloomy-rinded Bastelicaccia is a sheep's milk cheese with a pronounced barnyardy flavor hailing from southern Corsica, where it's made exclusively by farmer-shepherds. While it may look a bit dense, it's actually quite soft and melting, taking full advantage of the richness of sheep’s milk, which boasts more fat than cow, goat, or even water buffalo.

To discover more of my favorite cheeses, be sure to follow me on Instagram @emily_in_france, subscribe to my YouTube channel, and tune into the Terroir Podcast, where Caroline Conner and I delve into France's cheese, wine, and more one region at a time.

What I’m Eating

We had been planning to pay a visit to the local Sunday morning market in Auvers to pick up some picnic stuff before heading out into the countryside, but we were pleasantly surprised to find out that there was a terroir market on the very day we stopped by! In addition to delicious free samples of Mont Vully tomme (one of my favorites, boasting rich nutty notes and a lovely creaminess) and of an artisan preserved tuna from the bay of Arcachon that will certainly be popping up in coverage in due time, I dug into perhaps the best meal deal in town: a whole grilled herring, a perfectly baked potato, and a cup of Chardonnay… all for five euro. I joined dozens of others at long shared tables already set with plates and cutlery beneath a tent to keep us warm, spying on their selections of crêpes, oysters, escargots, and more. As my friend Scotty would say… it was quite civilized indeed.

Where I’m Going

1. Back to Bistrot des Tournelles, which I visited this summer with the team from Milk Street, and where I had the enormous pleasure of digging into that behemoth of a cordon bleu up top. Part of me wants to order something different this time; part of me isn't sure I can bring myself to deviate from this delicious bomb of cheese, ham, and turkey.

2. To the Butcher of Paris, a new(ish) butchershop in the Marché des Enfants Rouges (Paris’ oldest covered market), which boasts an on-site restaurant where they cook their exquisitely dry-aged meat to order. This is part of a bespoke tour I've developed for a group of professional carnivores from the UK. If ever you're interested in working with me on something similar (focused on cheese, pastry, meat, or most other things your little heart desire!) feel free to check out my offerings and shoot me an email by replying to this newsletter.

3. To Rouen, to check out La Couronne, the oldest auberge in France.

What I’m Doing

1. Our next TERRE/MER retreat is on the books! Join us for cooking, ceramics, and yoga overlooking the Mediterranean from April 11 to 14. Book now to secure your spot!

2. Signups for the next edition of the Nantes Writers’ Workshop are open! In the meantime, be sure to sign up for our newsletter to keep those creative juices a-flowing.

3. Well, it’s not me exactly, but my dear friend and colleague Marie is selling excellent foie gras for all of your holiday needs.

What I'm Writing

1. Pair cheese and beer with the founders of Aux Fromages de Nation. For Bonjour Paris.

2. The nine most extravagent truffle-centric dishes on Bay Area menus this fall. For InsideHook.

3. From the archives: Seven common French cheese myths, busted. For Food52.

What I'm Reading

1. ** spoiler alert ** It’s hard to know just how to classify this massive undertaking of a love story, a book about broken people finding their way to one another, a book about jagged edges sometimes meeting up and sometimes cutting deep. I loved the plurality of voices in Cleopatra and Frankenstein (and loved some voices more than others), but above all I loved how imperfectly human each and every one of the characters felt. In the author’s note, Coco Mellors shares the book took her seven years to finish, and you can feel the depth of craft and thoughtfulness and the deep layers of development through its discovery. I'm so glad I waded past the first scene, which gave me pause in what felt like wary inauthenticity. (Spoiler: Their love story was doomed from the beginning – that's not really the problem. But given the pacing [which I love] and how quickly it devolves [idem], I kind of needed, for one magic moment, right at the beginning, to believe. And I just didn't.) That said, overall, the novel was a true joy to read.

2. This bonne nouvelle: Notre Dame is getting her spire back! In Time Out.

3. This study of the power of a great sentence – and why what that means is in constant evolution. In the Guardian.

A bientôt !