The towns of Rouen, Le Havre and Dieppe form the outermost limits of what is known as the ”magic triangle” in the French Normandy. In the north, the commune of Etretat and its white chalk cliffs attract millions of tourists every year. In the south, the river Seine meanders in large curves through undulating countryside, flanked by Norman monasteries, towards its estuary.
The tourists streaming through the Louvre in quest of the Mona Lisa will look in vain this coming Monday in the pink room, where she has traditionally been housed. Leonardo da Vinci’s portrait, also known as La Giaconda, has a new home in the renovated Salle des Etats, about 150m away in the famous Paris museum.