Thank you, Eric, Phil, Francois and Bob. It was a good exercise.
I like also best the original version, but the vertical crop changes the overall look and feel, and could be preferrable for a book cover or even a decorative art print on a certain type of wall. On the other hand, the cropped version could be used for an online blog or even inside a book. We have proven that every crop would appeal to someone and the main criteria is how that image would be used.