Auberge Ravoux

During our family vacation in France, we ate a meal at Auberge Ravoux in Auvers-sur-Oise, the inn where Vincent van Gogh spent the final months of his life. Sharing a meal there gave us a simple connection to the building’s history: it had once provided the artist with both food and a place to stay.

Van Gogh arrived on May 20, 1890, and rented room number five. For 3.50 francs a day, he received room and board. His accommodation was a small attic room, approximately seven square meters, lit by a skylight. From this modest base, he went out to paint the village and surrounding countryside.

His stay lasted only about seventy days, yet it became an exceptionally productive period. He completed seventy-four paintings and more than fifty drawings, working at a remarkable pace during the final chapter of his career. The inn provided the everyday structure behind that work: somewhere to eat, rest and return at the end of the day.

His stay lasted only about seventy days, yet it became an exceptionally productive period. He completed seventy-four paintings and more than fifty drawings, working at a remarkable pace during the final chapter of his career. The inn provided the everyday structure behind that work: somewhere to eat, rest and return at the end of the day.

The inn brings that history into a familiar setting. A dining room, a doorway and a rented room reveal the ordinary circumstances surrounding extraordinary work. Our meal became part of our family’s experience of France, while the building connected that experience to the daily life of Van Gogh.