je m'attache...

...ou je meurs. I attach myself, or I die. That's the message that ivy - a symbol of fidelity - represents. Quite appropriate for the graves of Vincent and Théo Van Gogh, which are covered with ivy from the garden of their acquaintance, Dr. Gachet. On my tour of Auvers-sur-Oise today, I really got the impression that Vincent lived his life attached - perhaps a bit too passionately - to his paintings, love interests, family.Van Gogh spent the last few months of his short life (weird to think that when he died, he was just a bit older than I am now) in Auvers-sur-Oise, une bourgade not too far from Paris. The area became easily accessible by train beginning in the mid-19th Century and developed into quite the artists' hang-out...Daubigny, Pissarro among others. Auvers has become quite the tourist attraction in recent years, but what's curious is that there's not a single painting by Van Gogh on the tour...yet. Soon there will be one - whose identity has yet to be revealed - on display in the teeny tiny room that he rented.

I went on this day trip with a group of future elementary school teachers. Jean-Pierre, le papa where I'm staying for a few days, works at the IUFM in Amiens- l'institut universitaire de formation des maîtres. He's an artist himself, so it was fitting that he organized this sortie. Because there was space in the bus, he asked if I'd like to join them. We added his 11-year old Emma and her friend Manon, and headed out at 8:00 this morning. We had a fabulous franco-néerlandaise guide, who shared her passion about Vincent with the group. It's a funny parcours; you really walk in VG's footsteps, visiting the places he painted and seeing them the way he did. Well, sort of. He added things in the scenes that couldn't all be seen from where he was standing. In that way, he was different from the impressionists, who painted (their impression of) the scene in front of them. Along the Auvers tour, there are reproductions of his works posted by the actual site so you can easily compare the two.

After lunch in a crêperie with J-P, Emma and Manon, everyone was handed art supplies and had an assignment to create something inspired by our morning tour. While J-P took care of the whole group, I spent the afternoon with the girls. I think I've said it before; I enjoy speaking French with kids. They're so funny. We sat on the bank of the Oise and searched for inspiration. I think we changed places 3 times until we found a place that suited both Emma and Manon.

Being back here has made me realize how I have come to love this region, but especially the people. Time and again, their generosity overwhelms me. Like the ivy, I'm quite attached, and so thankful that even after nearly a year apart, our friendships continue to thrive.