My Mom arrived from Northern British Columbia yesterday. We are hanging out for two weeks while Sean is in the US. She hasn’t been to Paris before and I have oodles of time (I’m here until the end of August) so we decided to do do a bunch of walking around. I usually need some sort of purpose so I downloaded the iPhone app “City Walks” and we’re going to make our way though the self-guided walking tours. Note: the iPhone app is pretty buggy and definitely not worth the $4.99 I spent. I’m not going to even link to it because I don’t recommend it.
Our first self-guided walk was based on the Dan Brown book The Da Vinci Code. It was supposed to take 120 minutes over 3.1 km. The entire trip took us 7 hours because I have a baby and we lingered around some spots more than others.
Before we started the tour, I saw an Invader installation just outside the Paris Opera.
Hotel Ritz Paris was our official first stop. It was in a courtyard surrounded by fancy shops and men in black lingering in front. I probably should have gone into the lobby to take a look but felt a tad under-dressed as it’s one of the most luxurious hotels in the world. This is where the story of the Da Vinci Code begins. Robert Langdon is woken up by a police officer that announces Jacques Sauniere’s murder. Langdon leaves his room at Paris Ritz Hotel and heads to the crime scene at Louvre.
Sight #2 was the Palais Royal. This is the place where Robert Langdon follows the Arago Rose Line in order to find the Holy Grail.
The Louvre Museum is sight #3 on the map above. We didn’t go in because we are going to go later in the week when it’s open until 9:30pm and there are less people. The Louvre Museum is the place where Jacques Sauniere was murdered. The action takes place in the Denon Wing of the Museum.
Sight #4, Saint-Suplice Church was the final stop on the walking tour. It also has the Fountain of the Four Bishops. A dude in a speedo and cigar between his teeth got into the fountain when we were there. My Mother was offended. I was slightly amused but didn’t take his picture because he was just there for the attention.
Saint-Sulpice is the largest church in Paris located in the Saint Germain district. In the Da Vinci Code book, the albino monk – Silas – breaks into the Church searching for the keystone at the base of the obelisk on the floor.
After 7 hours of walking around, we were pretty exhausted and had to pee real bad (we couldn’t figure out how to get into the coin-operated toilettes on the sidewalk) so we headed back to Vincennes.
Some things that I will change for tomorrow: really look at the route on the map ahead of time, get all of Ripley’s gear packed the night before, fold the stroller and carry Ripley on the Metro and RER because finding the elevators and pousette tickets gates is time consuming.
