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| Wednesday, 1 September 2004 |
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Paris tourists search for key to "Da Vinci Code" PARIS, Aug 27 (Reuters) - A funny thing happened on the way to the Mona Lisa. Visitors to the Louvre museum in Paris, home of the world's most famous painting, started quizzing tour guides about Dan Brown's best-selling novel "The Da Vinci Code". Its plot kicks off with the murder of curator Jacques Sauniere in the museum's Grand Gallery and takes readers on a breathless romp littered with references to religion, history and the works of Italian Renaissance painter Leonardo da Vinci. Visitors clutching dog-eared copies of the book have poured into the Louvre and the church of Saint Sulpice on the trendy Left Bank, home to the brass meridian marker and stone obelisk that play a key role in the novel's search for the Holy Grail. Tourist guides were quick to catch on. They now offer tours exploring the book's locations and the theories surrounding Leonardo's works of art such as the enigmatic Mona Lisa. "By the time the 30th person asked me: 'Is this where the curator was murdered?' or 'Is this true about Leonardo's Virgin of the Rocks?', I figured, wow, this is really how people are beginning to approach the Louvre, so why not take advantage of that?" said Ellen McBreen, founder of tour firm Paris Muse. The Harvard-educated art historian launched her "Cracking The Da Vinci Code at the Louvre" tour in February and it now accounts for half her business, with around 100 tours a month catering mainly to North Americans. DEBUNKING THE MYTHS Interest in "The Da Vinci Code" shows no sign of waning. There are eight million copies in print, a film adaptation in the works and a thriving side industry in books debunking its controversial theories. Like other academics, McBreen challenges some of the notions put forward by Brown - but don't expect a sanctimonious lecture. The genial 34-year-old slips in humorous asides and encourages participants to voice their opinions, expert or not. "We're extremely sensitive to preserving the pleasure of the book," she said, contemplating a wall of Leonardo masterpieces. "Although our goal is to help people separate fact from fiction, we realise that simply correcting Brown's ideas by trotting out the traditional scholarship would be dull and horribly pretentious," McBreen added. "The tour is intended to be an interactive discovery, a conversation." American Laura Naramore, a strategist for a U.S. technology company living in Paris, took the tour with her visiting mother and aunt. She found it a great antidote to the torpid slog experienced by many sightseers. "It's the only experience I've had in a museum where you come out on a high and filled with energy," she enthused. Naramore discovered that the Mona Lisa does not hang in the place described in the book and that Brown changed other details for expediency, but she was not upset by the inconsistencies. "It's just like watching a behind-the-scenes 'how this movie was made' documentary," she said. "We loved having those things pointed out to us. It was part of the fun of the discovery." CHURCH OBJECTIONS McBreen reckons the appeal of "The Da Vinci Code" is that it follows one school of thought, unlike academics who juggle opposing theories. The lack of ambiguity keeps the plot snappy. "He's basically taken old chestnuts from the 'alternative' school of Leonardo interpretation and made them more accessible. The fact is, everybody wishes that there were a secret code that could make the meaning of the picture instantly recognisable." Not everybody is thrilled with Brown's approach to historical truth. Some Catholics have condemned the book as blasphemous - especially the part saying Jesus Christ married Mary Magdalene - and others say it is simply misleading. At Saint Sulpice, Father Paul Roumanet has put up a sign for the benefit of the estimated 10,000 fans of the book who have streamed to the church since Easter in search of clues. "Contrary to fanciful allegations in a recent best-selling novel, this is not a vestige of a pagan temple," it reads. It also specifies that the initials P and S that feature on circular windows refer to Saint Peter and Saint Sulpice, and not to an "imaginary" Priory of Sion, the secret society which in the novel is charged with protecting the Holy Grail. Roumanet considers "The Da Vinci Code" a clever crime thriller, but is worried that readers are not critical enough. "What he says in the book is fiction," said the priest. "I realise that a lot of people really take it as established truth, but that is not at all the case." Roumanet believes the public's infatuation with the book is a passing fad. He notes wryly that the increased flow of visitors has so far brought no material gains for the church, parts of which are in dire need of restoration. "Some Paris tour guides are making people pay for their visit. The other day I told one of them that if he gave me 10 percent of his profits, I would be making a fortune." |
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