But I could have told you Vincent

This world was never meant for one as
beautiful as you

Listen and watch.

Olive trees and in the background Les Alpilles, a silvery chain of low, jagged mountains close to St-Remy de Provence, where we were today.

We went to the market, which is one of the biggest and liveliest in the region, but full of English and American voices and lots of big cameras. We then went up to the Monastère St-Paul de Mausole, the hospital to which Van Gogh admitted himself as a psychiatric patient in 1889. During his time at the asylum he painted many pictures as he roamed the gardens and area around. He particularly liked to paint the olive trees and the hills behind. I tried to give this picture a painterly feel, but could not replicate his work!

Visiting the hospital is quite a moving experience. It is still in use as a psychiatric hospital, but a section has been made into a memorial of the artist and there is a lot of information and pictures. It is possible to walk in the beautiful cloisters and gardens.

Van Gogh was a troubled man there is no doubt about it. What exactly ailed him has been open to discussion ever since his death. What is certain though is that he left the world a wonderful legacy in the form of his paintings.



If I am worth anything later,
I am worth something also now,
for wheat is wheat, even if people
think it is grass in the beginning.

Vincent Van Gogh