If you were captivated by Dan Brown’s novel The Da Vinci Code, Paris is the perfect place to go to see the places described and experience them in real life. Many of the plot twists and locations in the book are genuine, and with a little preparation or a guided tour you can follow in the daring footsteps of the two main characters, Robert Langdon and Sophie Neveu.
Stops on the tour:
- The Hotel Ritz
- The Louvre
- The Jardin des Tuileries
- The Church of Saint-Sulpice
The Hotel Ritz
A good place to start is at the Hotel Ritz, where Langdon is woken up by the French Police and called to the scene of the crime. If you have planned a leisurely day, you may want to have brunch or stop in at the Hemingway Café before you continue.
The Louvre
The story moves immediately to the world famous Louvre museum, where Langdon meets Sophie, the young cryptologist intimately related to the murdered curator. Be sure to take some time to look through the amazing collections on your way to catching a glimpse of the mysterious smile of the Mona Lisa.
The Tuileries Gardens
Continue your journey on through the Jardin des Tuileries, where Langdon and Sophie make a near escape from the police. The formal design by Le Notre, gardener to Louis XIV, is sure to enchant you with the numerous statues and neatly trimmed greenery.
If you don’t want to walk you can drive by the Arc de Triomphe on your way to Saint-Sulpice, but it is advisable to keep your speed under eighty miles an hour and avoid driving up onto the sidewalks. You probably won’t have the entire French detective force after you.
At this point in the novel, Sophie and Langdon head to the Depository Bank of Zurich. Unfortunately, if you are curious and would like to see the interior, you will be disappointed. There is no Bank of Zurich on the rue Haxo (note that the street name is an anagram of hoax). However, the next stop at the Saint-Sulpice church should quell your disappointment.
The Saint-Sulpice
The Saint-Sulpice church has a mysterious past that is allegedly linked to the secret society of the Priory of Sion. Secret society or no secret society, the church has fascinating features. Of particular interest is the gnomon, which is a device made out of a series of lenses inside the church. The lenses are situated in such a way that they attract the sun so it shines on an 11-foot obelisk at the Winter Solstice
The tour in Paris ends at the Saint-Sulpice. If you are a true enthusiast, you can continue another day for a journey to the Château Villette, located outside Paris.
