My favourite this week is Pont des Arts, which I hadn't crossed until Monday when we decided to visit the Louvre. It's a pedestrian bridge linking the Institut de France (located at the top end of Rue de Seine) and the Louvre's back end. And it twinkles like a disco ball.
It twinkles because it is covered in 'love locks', padlocks locked onto the bridge in honour of the one you love. According to Wikipedia, love locks began to appear on European bridges in the early 2000s. Some months ago, I read an article about their appearance on the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The Mayor of Paris would seem to have succumbed to the inevitable and, after trying to remove the locks in 2010, has let them stay. The bouquinistes (second-hand booksellers) on the banks of the Seine even sell padlocks.
The idea is that you write the name of your love on the lock, attach it to the bridge, and throw the key in the river below. Tres romantique! Miles, ever practical, wondered what happens if you stop loving the person on your lock. Well, many have got around that by using padlocks with combination locks. I suspect some people throw one key in the river and keep a spare.
Locks are now dedicated to families and are spreading up the lamp posts too.
And as we were crossing the bridge on Monday, there was more than one couple plighting their troth with yet another lock, and recording the moment on their cameras.
Ah, Paris, city of love!
