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"The Da Vinci Code" ... a way to discover Paris
And - does the thriller have its own code secret code?
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Dan Brown's best-seller claims that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married, that they expressed the male-female duality and that the Church deliberately tried to suppress that reality...
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Most of the action takes place in or near Paris, which gives exploring Paris and its environs a new twist.
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In the gloom of Saint-Sulpice we explain the interest of the novel's esoteric information ... and of the church's fervent art. Since it is in the heart of the Left Bank, we explore those parts of the celebrated neighborhood that interest visitors most.
At the Louvre, we look at the Mona Lisa since that painting is central to the novel, although it conceals no hidden information. The author is right, however, to say that coded statements can be part of art. Example: Rubens's paintings on the life of queen Marie de Médicis, whose messages were explosive enough to contribute to her disgrace and exile.
Since the hero is a guest at the Hotel Ritz, tea at its Bar Vendôme can follow, with tales of Chanel, Proust and other major figures that are associated with it.
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 - Real coded messages are elsewhere at the Louvre.
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 - Château de Villette
In shifting Code's action to Great Britain, Brown takes his heroes to this 17th-century château, an hour's drive from Paris. We know the proprietor, and when it is not rented, we may visit it. Or we can show exclusive photos...
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 - Another possibility
and propose the visit of another château whose poetry and mystery could have determined Brown's choice - were it located in the right direction.
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Brown's preface declares that everything he affirms can be verified, which would revolutionize Christianity.
Yet sifted into these revelations is a particular emphasis on the Parisian streets that characters take. Those tragectories are absolutely impossible.
We suggest a reason for these voluntary errors, which come from an American who knows Paris perfectly and which any street guide contradicts.
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 - Street guide
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