This weekend the the LA Times, like the good industry-town rag that it is, runs its coverage of Da Vinci Code-inspired advertising opportunities — I mean travel — as close to the opening date of the film as possible.

For those of you determined to run the European travel gauntlet this summer, save a few pennies to compensate for pocket-gouging euro prices by downloading the free mp3 guides at iaudioguide.com.

Americans, undaunted by all the reports of spiraling fares and overcrowding on flights to Europe this summer, coupled with an unfavorable exchange rate, are setting their jaws and vowing to join the annual tourist crush anyway.