Da Vinci Code holiday

The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown has been read by millions of us. Millions of us will see the film. Visitor numbers to the places along the route featured in the book are dramatically higher than before the book was publishes. A tourist industry is springing up based on the story. Want to be part of it?

In France, you will need to head to Paris if you want to be in at the start of the Da Vinci Code experience.

You might want to start at the Ritz, and make your way to the Louvre via the Opera and Place Vendome, even if it isn't the most direct way between the two places - this is the route followed in the book.

At the Louvre, even the museum itself has launched an 'official' Follow the Da Vinci Code audio tour, in part because of the many tour operators who are offering the same thing but at much higher prices. It was of course in the Louvre that the curators body was discovered (in the Denon wing) that set the whole mystery in action.

The other Paris landmark featured large in the book is the Church of Saint Sulpice. Not an especially thrilling church, but being a stop on the Da Vinci Code route has brought this church large numner of visitors, fascinated by the marble obelisk. The church has even put a notice explaining that 'the obelisk is not the vestige of an ancient pagan temple'. But the monk Silas went their, seeking the key to Christianity, and that is sufficient for the fans of the book.

After that the action leaves Paris and moves to London, where your journey can continue...

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