Van Gogh Vodka and Ashes

Vincent van Gogh is buried at Auvers-sur-Oise, about 70 miles northwest of Paris, next to his brother Theo.  The cemetery is a 10 or 15 minute walk outside Auvers.  Van Gogh was put into a common grave with a 15-year lease.  Later there was money to move the body to a better spot, which is where he lies now.  Vincent's body was placed in a coffin made by the carpenter who had been supplying his picture frames.  Vincent van Gogh was a great painter - none greater, many think.

Tens of thousands, perhaps up to half a million, make a pilgrimage to his grave each year.  People leave sunflowers, irises, poems, drawings, and as is the custom in some cultures, food for the journey beyond.  The Japanese have a particular affection for van Gogh, perhaps because for a time he was interested in Japanese art.  Many Japanese travel each year across the world to his grave to leave, or to commingle with the earth of van Gogh's grave, the ancestral ashes of their own dear departed.  For much of the year, the thick ivy covering his grave carries a light coating of grey.  Russians who visit pour vodka onto the dark red soil of the same spot.