Auvers-sur-Oise: Van Gogh's final destination - a Paris day trip

The village of Auvers-sur-Oise was the final chapter in Van Gogh's life, and an easy day trip from Paris.

Van Gogh was particularly productive here, painting around 80 works over a 70 day period. This all ended however, when he suffered a gunshot to his chest. This is said to be a suicide attempt, although some contend that he was shot by someone else, by accident. In any case, he managed to return to his hotel and survived a further two days before passing.

What's there?

••  Large signposts featuring an image of the relevant Van Gogh painting, placed next to the building or vista which was the subject of the painting - This is the highlight of the trip, as it provides some insights into his works that you would never see from the paintings alone. It's also worth pointing out that there are only five or so signposts where this comparison can be made easily. The remaining signposts are less interesting, as they show locations where the scenery has significantly changed since 1890, or show the locations of portraits, or show the paintings of other artists.

Monet's house and gardens - a Paris day trip review

If you have even the slightest interest in Monet, then this is without question, the best day trip from Paris. Approximately one hour from Paris, Monet created a garden which I would say is his most beautiful piece of art (I won't say beautiful again, but it applies to everything I mention in this post).

What's there? 

1.  The garden - the place that provided the inspiration for many of Monet's most recognisable paintings. The garden consists of two areas...

The upper area is a large garden packed with flowers...I've never seen so many flowers in one space. I'm not sure how true it is to Monet's original garden, but it certainly is spectacular.

The Forest of Fontainebleau - Les circuit des 25 bosses

This guide takes the shape of me simply sharing my weekend adventure / challenge, and letting it serve as inspiration, or not, for your own expedition.

The challenge? To hike Les circuit des 25 bosses without using a car to get there. It's a bit risky, but I like that element of danger and trouble to keep everything on its edge.

So what is Les circuit des 25 bosses? Well it's one of the more interesting and rewarding hiking trails in the forest of Fontainebleau. It's name roughly translates to 25 bumps, so as you can imagine, it involves hiking up and down at least 25 times.

It's the perfect place to see the large boulders for which the forest is known. The catch is that it's on the western edge of the forest, about as far away as you can get from the normal train access point. As a result, normal access is by car. And hence my challenge...