We arrive at Saint Paul de Mausole just outside Saint Rémy
during the hottest hours of the day.
This former monastery is the asylum
where Vincent Van Gogh
committed himself voluntarily
for a year, a week & a day.
It's where he received treatment & rested,
at times not being able to work at all,
but when he could,
churning out piece after piece,
including masterpieces like Starry Night and Irises.
We first enter a simple chapel,
then into the the main building
and a reconstructed kitchen.
The asylum is centered around Romanesque cloisters,
which envelop an inner garden.
The buildings still house a psychiatric hospital today,
and there's a very special, tranquil,
somewhat fragile feeling,
as you quietly walk and take it all in.
Upstairs, Van Gogh's small, modest room -
a simple green metal bed, his easel,
barred windows that overlook fields at the back.
Old windows
distort the view down towards the inner garden
like a daguerreotype.
And behind,
wheat fields, poppies, lavender.
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