Dear Vincent: Auvers sur Oise Part Une

 

David and I arrived in Auvers on the evening of June 8th. It was quite the adventure getting there! We took the train from London to Paris. Once we arrived in Paris, we basically looked at each other and said, "Now what?" David can read French but isn't comfortable speaking it. I asked multiple folks for help as the train stations are gigantic and a bit overwhelming if you're not used to them. Europe also has a tendency to tell you which train you're on at the last minute so that can be a giant learning curve as well. 

 

A station employee told us to board the train at track 6. When we got to track 6, there was no train there but there was a train on track 5. We hopped on board and checked the signs. We had all of our luggage in tow and stared out the window counting our stops. About six stops before our stop, the train stopped. People started getting off. We didn't notice it immediately but *everyone* started to get off of the train. A woman told us very nicely (in French) to get off the train. We followed the exodus down the stairs and out of the station. I asked an employee who told me to wait outside for the bus. There was nothing in the area except a closed coffee house.

About two hundred people waited outside for a bus that didn't look like it was coming. David thought it might be a strike. After about 20 minutes, an Uber showed up for someone. Then another one and another one. I started to think that we should look into taking a taxi or uber or something. We both realized that it looked like no bus was coming any time soon and it was going to get dark soon (it was almost 10 p.m. It gets dark there very late.) 

I asked Tristan via the very slow internet connection for help. He suggested that we go to a Starbucks and, "download the app." It showed that my download time was about three hours. We had no choice but to stand there and wait to see what happened. Then, it started raining. Luckily, I had packed an umbrella and we watched people scramble for cover. At some point, a bus eventually did show up and we watched well over a hundred people RUN for the bus. I started filming them before I realized, WE needed to also be on the bus. Thankfully, a second bus showed up and we squeezed in like sardines.

While boarding the bus, we were separated. A gentleman gave up his seat to David. We both had a suitcase and a backpack. The man insisted that David take his seat. I stood holding onto the pole. A woman was standing next to me. She didn't look very happy. At one point, the sudden movement of the bus knocked her off her feet and I put my arms out to catch her. She went from looking very dour to laughing and smiling. It seemed like everything was going to be okay. 

I was watching GPS on my phone as the bus moved in the direction of Auvers sur Oise. Closer and closer we got. Then, all of a sudden, the bus took a turn and we started to move away from where we needed to be. I motioned to David that we need to get off at the next stop. So, in the middle of nowhere, we got off the bus and waited for the Uber app to finish downloading. When it did, a car came and picked us up. Thankfully, the driver spoke English and took us to where we needed to be.

We arrived in the dark on a little street in Auvers. The owners had to leave unexpectedly and left the keys in a dropbox. It was our first time using anything like vrbo/airbnb. Thankfully, I didn't notice that our door wasn't locked the right way that night. 

The room was spacious and adorable. It was hard to see what the entire property looked like in the dark but it seemed like it was just us (we discovered in the morning, there are at least four apartments on the property.) We even had a refrigerator and stove. I was over the moon to find a teapot!  Exhausted, we climbed into our Mike and Carol Brady beds and fell fast asleep.

 

I woke up with a start. I was having a nightmare that I had been shot. My heart was racing and I sat bolt upright in bed. The sun was beaming into the window above my head and David was still snoring. I had no idea what time it was and opened the window in the hopes that it would wake David up. It did. I told him about my nightmare and he apologized. We decided to get ready for the day. Little did we know what the day would bring...

More tomorrow...

Related Links

The Dear Vincent Project

Vincent related posts 

Auvers sur Oise, France
Auvers sur Oise, France Part Une
Auvers sur Oise, France Part Deux
Auvers sur Oise, France Part Trois
Auvers sur Oise, France Part Quatre aka the Flowers of Auvers