Day Thirteen

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Today we went on another short journey to see the last home of Vincent Van Gogh.  The drive was about 45 minutes and the best part of the drive was going down a long road leading through the trees.  The girls likened the road to the ride to school on "dump road" but the one here was much prettier.  We arrived in the town of Auvers and there were replicas of the paintings that Vincent painted of the different sights in town in front of the actual place.  It was amazing to see that nothing had changed since he walked those streets over a hundred years ago.

Van Gogh's statue
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It was an extremely hot day (probably in the 90s) so walking through this town was difficult.  But it was a beautiful walk.  Vincent Van Gogh arrived in this village around May 29.  He spent 72 days painting a picture every day.  He set his canvas' to dry around his little room in the inn that he stayed.  At the end of the 72 days his mental illness got the best of him and he shot himself in the chest in his room at the inn.  His friend, that was looking after him staying in the next room, heard his moans and rushed to his side.  He was able to go and get his brother while a doctor kept him alive.  He died a few days later in his brother's arms. We visited this room in the inn.  They left his room and his friend's room next to his exactly as it was the day that Van Gogh died.  They never rented this room out again, knowing that it was a "bad luck room".  We climbed the old twisting stairs up to the room.  We all went into the room that was the friend's room.  It had a small bed, a chamber pot and old wallpaper in it.  The girls walked around it looking at everything.  Then we went next door and AP went in first.  She was in the room no longer than 10 seconds when she walked out and waited for us on the stairs.  When we asked her why she didn't want to be in there she said she saw something very bad in there. In the evening we talked to AP about this and she saw blood and skin over the blood and hands covered in blood.  She told this without knowing the whole story of Vincent's death.  This was an amazing sight for AP.  Something that she was very moved by! After we were home we looked in on the ducks and chickens we promised to take care of for Vincent when they went on their holiday.  We discovered that one of the chickens got out and was very upset and lost in the sheep meadow.  Grandma said we had to go and get the chicken so that it wouldn't get eaten by the foxes.  So mom put on big black wading boots (not a great match with her dress) and went off into the sheep meadow.  After cornering the chicken we were able to pick it up and bring it to safety.  Grandma said it was a sight to see mom trudging back up the grass with a chicken under her arm!