The Da Vinci Code

On Location: Louvre, Paris

Quoted lines from the movie script are italicized.

There is a way out of every box, a solution to every puzzle;

It's just a matter of finding it. - Jean-luc Picard

This is the second time that I'm visiting Paris.

I'm at the Louvre.

Originally a palace, it is now one of the largest and most important museums in the world. It doesn’t shout. It simply whispers to you when you enter the room.

At first, I cannot make out any details. It is just a large, dark mass. 

Everything looks perfect.

Every piece is in place.

And then? There in the silence, as I reverently walk behind the Winged Victory, I jump as if someone had told me that the TY Beanie Boos were on sale at JoAnn's.

Seriously?

What in the world?

I spot Mona Lisa looking at me like an old friend. But it's not the mystic smile that's on her lips right now. They are pursed, and there's a horrified look in her eyes. Professor Langdon, renowned Harvard professor of religious symbology and French policewoman Sophie from the movie mystery thriller The Da Vinci Code are there as well. 

I follow their gaze. Sophie's uncle, museum curator Sauniere, has been murdered. His body is covered with symbols written in his own blood. What could be Sauniere's message?

Langdon's ardor to pursue the truth bursts out in an explosive declaration, Tonight, this will be my quest. (Aside: I'm thinking the quest is for the Holy Grail, to which I only have one response.)

What? Again? I thought Indy does that already in The Last Crusade (see two blogs earlier for a refresher). Hmmm... but he lets go. So, let's Proceed. (Spoiler alert: This one has a happily-ever-after.)

Our search begins: first at the vault of a private bank, then at the isolated Templar church in the British countryside. But look who's here? 

No one warns you. You’re just tagging along to figure out the clue from Da Vinci's The Last Supper when Teabing, a noted British Grail historian who himself covets the truth about the Grail, shows up. He's holding Sophie at gunpoint while ordering Langdon to figure out the cryptex's elusive password. 

Good for Langdon. He stays calm. He mutters in a soft voice, You seek the orb that ought be on his tomb. It speaks of Rosy flesh and seeded womb. 

I’m not exactly sure why.

I think it’s as confusing to me as it might be to you that in an unexpected defiant move, Langdon tosses the cryptex straight up toward the dome above. It collides hard with the floor.

Be still, my quickly beating heart. The Grail is gone. Everything destroyed. My shoulders slump and my throat goes dry. 

I close my eyes, but snap them open again as I catch a glimpse of Teabing forcing the cylinder apart, hoping to see history before it dissolves forever. Are you ready for this? 

It is empty except for shards of wet glass. A shocker. No dissolving papyrus. Where... is the map? 

I have the same question myself, but no one makes a sound when in a surprise motion, Langdon carefully extracts a papyrus from his pocket and unrolls it. Teabing's life dream, right in front of him.

Tell me! Teabing demands, but the police hoist and carry him out.

The quest is not over yet. The Holy Grail 'neath ancient Roslin waits. We hurry across Rue de Rivoli, back in the Louvre. Why?

Because when a solution eludes you.

When you are overthinking Saunière's final clue as to where the Chalice is hidden...

All you have to do is to take a breath, go back, and look at where you started.

Guess where?

Where else but beneath the Louvre. (Aside: I told you. This has a happy ending.)

THE END

Until next time! For now, the balcony is closed.

I sense a nudge on my shoulder. Hubby is prodding me to move on toward the Sully Wing. The Vénus de Milo. It's a must-see.