Waching daily Nov 28 2018

What a place. -Impressive, isn't it?

I've been invited by the Van Gogh Museum and Hyundai to drive to Paris

to follow in the footsteps of Vincent van Gogh.

I'm going to visit places where he lived, worked and slept.

People will drive along and tell me more about his life.

That's what we're about to do. Let's go.

Day two.

The weather is not as nice as yesterday. It's raining.

But I keep in mind that Van Gogh saw the landscape like this as well.

So it's okay.

I'm embracing the rain.

We're here. La Maison Van Gogh.

It's really gorgeous here.

Hello. -Welcome.

Nice to meet you. Caroline. -Hello.

We're in the Van Gogh House in Cuesmes.

This is the house where Van Gogh used to live and where he started as an artist.

Do you know why he started here?

Van Gogh came to the Borinage to become a lay preacher

but he wasn't really very good at it. -That's sad.

So, he spent a year trying to figure out what to do with his life.

He worked as a volunteer lay preacher.

In August 1880, he finally decided to become an artist.

Amazing. -Yes, it is.

Here you can see reproductions of work he made in the Borinage.

Also a few of the books he read.

Also books that taught him how to draw. Van Gogh wasn't a very good at drawing.

So, he practised a lot here. He drew and copied a lot.

Copying the work of others really shaped him as an artist.

Where are you taking me next? -To the Borinage.

The miners' area. -Exciting. I can't wait.

Technology. Nice.

So, we leave the road here and then turn right.

Okay, great.

We're close to the former train station Pâturages.

It's the first station where Van Gogh got off the train to enter the Borinage.

We're seeing the back of the train station here.

It's a home now and it's private property.

So this is the first place where Van Gogh entered the mining area.

It's sad that he was so eager to become a preacher and help the people here

and then he was fired.

He was fired because his attitude was beginning to change.

He was so impressed by the lifestyle of the poor that he wanted to live like them.

So he would give away his money and clothes and started to live as a pauper.

That wasn't accepted by the local population.

They felt that a pastor should be dignified and have a certain standing.

At the same time, it was a good thing that Van Gogh was fired as a preacher.

Just imagine the world of art

if he had entered history as a preacher.

We're here. -At Rue de Marcasse.

Rue de Marcasse. The mines.

It's as if time has stopped.

What a place. -Impressive, isn't it?

How deep are the mines here? -Around 700 metres.

700 metres? -Yes.

And Van Gogh went 700 metres down? -Yes.

There's a plaque where Van Gogh went underground.

I'd like to see that. -Sure.

What does it say there in French?

Saint Antoine Puits? -Yes, the Saint Anthony shaft.

This used to be the entrance to the mine.

It used to be larger, of course. This is a commemorative plaque.

To commemorate the mine.

So it goes 700 metres down here? -Yes, for sure.

Do we know what impact the visit to the mine had on him?

Yes, it was very impressive.

He described his experiences in a letter that he sent to his brother Theo.

He went into great detail about what the mine was like.

How people had to work.

It's something that would remain with him forever.

Yesterday, I was at the site where Van Gogh painted <i>The Potato Eaters.</i>

There I learned that he was fascinated by peasant families, simple living.

Did that originate here? -Yes, definitely.

It's a continuation of the things that he witnessed here.

People working the fields, but also people working in the mines.

Caroline, thanks for showing me the site where Van Gogh's art career began.

It was a real pleasure. I hope people know a bit more about the Borinage.

Where are you off to next? -Auvers-sur-Oise.

Great. A beautiful place.

If I understand correctly, this is the last place where Van Gogh lived before he died.

Yes, Auvers is where he died and where he was buried.

Now you can enter Van Gogh's room.