@Margaret63 - I have that book at home, you recommended it to me, thanks! - I agree, every so often a human (or 'son of god') walks the earth whose sole purpose is to show us the way. I think we need such a man/woman now - we seem to have lost our ways in so many different areas of life on this planet, even if we, as individuals, are trying to do our best!
and
@Justis too:
I was thinking of that movie now: I remember being grateful that it took place in so many interesting places, for example it begins in the famous Parisian exhibition place called 'the Louvre' which was originally a huge castle arranged in a square, enlarged over the centuries for the French Kings. There were many scenes shot in that building, and places you wouldn't normally get a good look at, if you were just a visitor to the many public galleries. There were also good shots of the new building right in the middle between the old palaces, which is a glass pyramid and is the actual entrance into the Louvre - to me it's a marvelous piece of architecture, Parisians hated it for a long time.
I have been to the Louvre, but it is so vast, I simply restricted myself to certain galleries only and did look at da Vinci's paintings - I searched out the 'Mona Lisa', of course, and was a little disappointed at the size (it's relatively small) and the fact one couldn't get very close - it is behind a glass screen.
The movie also had scenes in Rome and in St Peter's and the Vatican in general, I seem to remember a shot of the Sistine Chapel (ceiling painted by Michelangelo). As I stated before, it began in the library of a famous monastery in my country of origin - then it moved over to dark country-side in France (but could have been filmed anywhere) - Belgium - eventually ending up in England - and supposedly Scotland but the church which I recognised was definitely in London, so a bit of artistic licence was taken. It also showed a bridge in London, where a murder/suicide of a high-ranking church official in the movie took place - but a similar crime had been committed there in real life, also a church official, supposedly a suicide. (So this is IMO why the Catholic Church got a bit annoyed about the movie!)
I probably 'grew up' and grew a bit more cynical after believing every word of first the book, then the movie - and realised that filmmakers take great liberties and authors even more so.
Have a great day
Taurisk
