In "The da Vinci Code" the author described shields or metal implants in the pavement to mark the so-called Rose Line, a global prime meridian. Are these for real, or another aspect of the fictional Whodunit?

If they are real in that they once marked the globe's prime meridian, I would like to view them on my next visit to Paris.

That visit will have one major objective: the Louvre. And a few minor ones, and a revisit: Ste. Chapelle. Of course, Paris always draws me to something I had not planned on.

People who want to know if 4 days are enough to see Paris make me wonder what they want to see.

Hi
I believe the line you are referring to is the one described in the St Sulpice church. The church I understand has put up signs indicating that other details (a crypt under a statue, etc) but I believe the line is in the floor. It's a magnificent church, and I read somewhere once that the interior is larger than Notre Dame's.

I meant to say, put up a sign that other details are not true,

The interior of St-Sulpice is indeed vast, and the church is worth a visit on its alone aside form the Da Vinci code association.

There are other meridian lines in Paris; a Google search should bring up the information.

For fans of The Da Vinci Code, both the Hôtel Meurice and the Hôtel du Louvre are offering special packages; that of the Meurice includes a guided private tour of St-Sulpice. It isn't cheap, of course!

good brief info on the church and on the meridian line

http://www.apartexchange.com/Guide_paris6_stsulpice.htm

Hi,

The St Sulpice has an excellent pipe organ.

The fountain in front of the church has four statues of French Bishops. They are aligned N, E, S and W.

As a very nice lady pointed out to me, none of them were promoted to Cardinal; "Thus, they are cardinals, but not Cardinals".

Thanks. It is sometimes hard with that novel to separate fact from fiction.
I found out that the Rosslyn Church in Scotland is real. It is a working church!

And the round church in London where Teabing was supposedly kidnapped is also real. Some of those codes are too.

But the Rose Line escaped me.

I was in St. Sulpice before the novel came out, but I failed to note those brass plates marking the line. I was too busy looking up at the walls and ceilings.

Last month I visited various da Vinci Code locations in Paris using Fodor's self-guided "A da Vinci Tour" http://www.fodors.com/features/nfdis...avincicode.cfm

The Rose Line is easy to find:

"Near the middle of the nave on the right side, you can locate one end of the Rose Line near a stone statue with a Latin inscription. The Rose Line, a narrow brass strip, marks the original zero-longitude line, which passed through Paris before being moved to Greenwich, England. The monk uses the line as a reference point in his quest for the Holy Grail. You can retrace his path from the stone statue north across the nave and transept to an obelisk next to the statue of St Peter."

Yeah, obviously some of the research in the novel has been left to college students : boarding a train to Lille from Saint-Lazare ? Crossing the Seine on the "Pont des Saints-Pères" (sic ! ) ? Please...

Ah, if only some of the fantasy writers who hang out here could have made as much money as Dan has....

People have had a lot of fun with that book, jumping over a turnstyle in the London underground, an upper class Englishman referring to the "Nile River" and saying that he went to "School" at Oxford University.