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> Walking the Da Vinci Code in Paris
> Excerpt 3
 Walking
the Da Vinci Code in Paris
Book Review: Excerpt
3
Continued from: Excerpt 2
Sophie's world: Sandrine Bieil
"Dan Brown has presented his readers with a cast of colorful
characters that some literary critics have called shallow and trite. A careful
look at their character traits, every personal detail, and thir names reveals
the Joycean web woven by Brown. The description of each character is completed
with suggestions of what he or she might have done in Paris."
Sandrine Bieil
"Here we find two names linked with the quest for the Holy Grail.
The Abbé Bieil was the director general of the Seminary of St-Sulpice when the
real-life Saunière of Rennes-le-Château brought the mysterious documents he
discovered to the church. Gino Sandri, from whom Brown takes the name Sandrine,
was the personal secretary of Pierre Plantard, the grand master of the Priory of
Sion in modern times. The nun, guardian of the keystone, is murdered in the
church by Silas.
"Living in the church she
would have done her shopping at the lovely nearby covered market--the Marché
St-Germain, 75006, metro Odéon or Mabillon--with its food shops, boutiques, and
restaurants.
"She also probably bought
homemade produce (jams, biscuits, incense, essential oils) from the monastery
shop of Paris, Monastic Produce, boutique of the Fraternité monastique de
Jerusalem, 10 rue des Barres, 75004, metro Hôtel-de-Ville (see map, p. 53).
"Shops specializing in
devotional objects are all around St-Sulpice (see map, p. 59), especially rue du
Vieux-Colombier."
- Walking the Da Vinci Code in Paris, by Peter Caine
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Book Review: Walking the Da Vinci Code
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