TOUR DESCRIPTION

During this tour, you will revisit (in small groups - maximum 8 participants) part of Robert Langdon's adventures from Vendôme Square and the Ritz Hotel to the Louvre and to the final destination of this tour at Saint Sulpice Church (may be closed on Sunday for Mass).

At the end of this afternoon journey in the foot steps of "The Da Vinci Code's" main character, you may choose to either spend more time at the Saint Sulpice Church and wander around the lively district of Saint Germain des Prés or be dropped off at the Louvre to visit the other sections of the largest museum in the world.

The Mona Lisa

The Mona Lisa (1479 - d. before 1550) also known as La Gioconda 1503-1506

If Vasari is correct, the portrait which Leonardo took to France, that was acquired by François I, was of the Mona Lisa, who in 1495 married Francesco di Bartolomeo di Zanoli del Giocondo. The title "La Gioconda" would thus derive from this notable Florentine's surname. But in Italian "gioconda" also means a light-hearted woman. With a lasting effect on Italian art, this portrait stood for an ideal. The smile that gives her life is, however, a feature of many of Leonardo's figures. Several scholars have concluded that the portrait was worked on over a long period, starting around (1505-1506 in Florence, and it was finished during the course of Leonardo's peregrinations in Milan or Rome.