A “The Da Vinci Code”-inspired walking tour.
Disclaimer: This post is a bit long so to save your time…If you're looking for a guided, detailed tour, this is not it. This post is only my way of sharing the walking tour I did which was inspired by the book. If you have time to read someone's blab about what she saw based on her untrained eye (I am neither an architect nor an artist), then you can try and continue reading. This might just inspire your itinerary when you tour the city. 😊 Also, all photos are personally shot by me unless otherwise stated.
I vividly remember my freshman year in high school ━ the year that the horizon of my bookish world widened. It was the time that I discovered new literary works and a number of those authors have now become my all-time favorites. But there is one among them who enriched my dream to travel to places that actually exist ━ Dan Brown.
The film adaptation of The Da Vinci Code was released the year before but it was only then that I learned that the movie was based on a book. I became curious about the movie because it was making a lot of buzz. A number of religious groups petitioned against showing it in our country due to its controversial take on religion and history, and this resulted to it being banned in a number of cinemas. Well, our country is supposed to be the only Christian nation in Southeast Asia so I guess the reaction it got was a bit expected.
But I guess it’s human nature to veer towards something if you’re told to avoid it. So I did some sleuthing.
Home internet connection was still a luxury back then. So what I did was save up a portion of my allowance to be able to “extend” my time in the net cafe so that I can do my personal research (after finishing my assignments). That is how I learned that Brown was the author of the book that the movie was based on. Luckily, one of my father’s colleagues lent me a copy and it was then that I fell in love with Paris.
Sure. I knew about the city’s infamous icon- Eiffel Tower, since grade school and immediately added seeing it to my bucket list. But the way Mr. Brown described Paris made it come alive in my mind, I can almost see it like I’m actually there. And the city became more than just the Eiffel Tower to me.
Now that I’m in Europe studying for my master’s degree, I plan to not pass up the opportunity to live out those imaginings ━ even if they’re more than a decade old. However, the pandemic kind of put a damper on these plans. Because even though travel restrictions are now lifted between members of the EU, I’ve become anxious about traveling.
Partly because I’m alone, but majorly due to the invisible virus that caused the whole world to be afraid of a sneeze.
But since I was already in Paris for my visa, I decided to take a risk and enjoy the city as much (and as safely) as I could. So I drafted a short, rough The Da Vinci Code-inspired walking tour, which I started from the Eglise de Saint Sulpice (the supposed hiding place of the Priory of Sion’s keystone), and ended with a tiresome, but definitely worth it, tour of Musée du Louvre.
Église Saint-Sulpice
“…Silas relayed the earlier events of the evening…how all four of his victims, moments before death, had desperately tried to buy back their godless lives by telling their secret…that the keystone was ingeniously hidden at a precise location inside one of Paris’s ancient churches━the Eglise de Saint-Sulpice.”
━ The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown
I remembered that in the book the church was described to have a cold atmosphere which I thought was just because the character, Silas, was visiting it at 1 in the morning. But that same atmosphere greeted me when I first entered its cavernous space at 10AM.
It’s also not just because only a few people are milling around and praying, or that single chairs are arranged a meter apart on the church’s floor. The unadorned walls just give this cold vibe like the sunlight coming in from the windows, lining the church’s ceiling, hasn’t reached them with its warmth.
This much is possible because the ceiling is really high. When I read from the book that it has a soaring ceiling, I was only able to associate it with the biggest cathedral I’ve seen so far at that time. And it didn’t prepare me at all for the real thing. I felt like I hurt my neck as I craned to look up and take in as many details as I could.
I’m not an expert in architecture, or art, or anything like that but I’ve been inside a number of churches and I think that it’s safe to say that this is one notable church. It just has this air that cows you into solemnity.
The reason though that I chose this as the first stop was that a key item (the keystone) of the story was supposedly hidden in this church under an obelisk where the “Rose Line” passes through.
Based on the church’s leaflet, the referred obelisk was part of what is called a gnomon, a device used to provide the exact time of day, to verify the computation of the date of Easter, and to improve certain astronomical data. Though it was referred to be running along the Paris Meridian in the book, the brass strip of the gnomon neither runs through the true Paris Meridian nor is it called the Rose Line. (Again, I am no expert but this article here seems trustworthy enough.)
Other than the odd, asymmetrical brass strip of the gnomon (short video here), there were a lot more things to see around the church. The gran organ, their golden pulpit, and paintings by Eugène Delacroix that adorned the walls and ceiling of one of their chapels are a few of my favorites.
Église Saint-Germain-des-Prés
My next stop was technically not mentioned in the book so why did I take a slight detour? Well, it’s the oldest church in Paris, it’s along my way to the Louvre, and based on condensed research, it is the burial site of some Merovingian kings.
This random info caught my attention because the name Merovingian was mentioned in the book. And I remembered the name well because of the intriguing fact the story tied to the Merovingian bloodline.
“…Christ’s line grew quietly under cover in France until making a bold move in the fifth century, when it intermarried with French royal blood and created a lineage known as the Merovingian bloodline.”
━ The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown
Despite not seeing the burial sites, the church still left a remarkable sense of awe in me. It’s supposed to be the oldest so I expected it to look a certain way, and that’s why I wasn’t that shocked to see it’s very simplistic facade. But once you get inside and adjust your eyes after the dimness in the entryway, you are in for a surprise.
The main aisle leading to the altar was narrower and it didn’t have a neck-breaking, high ceiling like Saint Sulpice, but all of those details gave the place a more welcoming, intimate atmosphere. Its walls are adorned with paintings, and the ceiling and columns are colorful and some even have golden linings. All these made the space so cozy that I felt so at home, I took time to sit down, reflect, light a candle, and offer a prayer.
Musée de Louvre
“Langdon felt a familiar tinge of wonder as his eyes made a futile attempt to absorb the entire mass of the edifice. Across a staggeringly expansive plaza, the imposing facade of the Louvre rose like a citadel against the Paris sky.”
━ The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown
A few blocks away and then crossing the Seine via Pont des Arts, I now reach the last portion of my walking tour. But my hours of walking and standing were definitely not done.
Dan Brown’s description did the size of the Louvre some justice (click here for a short video). The plaza was wide and huge but once you get inside and start your exploration of the museum, you’d wish you were jogging around the plaza instead.
But of course, I didn’t wish that. The beauty that awaits you inside is worth the hours of walking and wandering. Trust me.
Brown mentioned in the book that an estimated 5 days would be required of someone to properly appreciate the more than 60,000 art pieces inside the museum and based on what I experienced, I can’t help but think that he was right. I think I spent more than 3 hours on the Greek antiquities alone. I just hurried my pace when I realized it was getting late and I hadn’t even reached the Grand Gallery.
In short, I wasn’t able to go through every nook and cranny of the Museum. Other than it was ginormous, the crowd of tourists just seemed to thicken by the hour and I started to feel uneasy considering the virus.
But before I went out of the museum proper, I made sure to stop by the woman with the famous smile – Mona Lisa. I took several shots even while I was still far away so I could have more time actually viewing it once it was my turn. As I mentioned, the line was long.
I’ve seen numerous photos of her before but seeing Mona Lisa up close left a novel sensation in me. The painting’s age is more pronounced with its weathered, wrinkled but well-maintained look. The famous smile even seemed more mysterious when you look at it up close. I can’t help but imagine that at some point Lisa would wink at me as if we just shared a private joke. It was that surreal.
There’s an unusual detail though that got my attention other than her smile ━ her hands. Her face, with that mysterious smile, almost looks ethereal. But her hands look so simple and delicate, it felt like the only real thing in that painting.
I could have stared at that painting for hours but I had to give way for the people next to me so I ended up quickly taking that photo above before I finally went to get out of the museum.
The Holy Grail ‘neath ancient Roslin waits.
━ The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown
Adorned in masters’ loving art, She lies.
The blade and chalice guarding o’er Her gates.
She rests at last beneath the starry skies.
But something more amazing was waiting for me at the exit ━ La Pyramide Inversée. I will confess that I totally forgot about it and only remembered when it greeted me at the exit. And it was weirdly, gorgeous. I could somehow understand the numerous conspiracy theories surrounding this structure.
My little walking tour might have gone with some slight detours and didn’t necessarily go all the way to Versailles or London, but still like Langdon’s quest, it ended here.#
Leave a Reply