Eternal Love in Paris! Love Locks on the Seine

It's Saturday morning and I'm kicking back with the girls and listening to my "Paris" playlist on iTunes before I head out for my hair appointment. So thought this would be a good time to share part of an old story that I posted back in 2012 (with some new updates).

Although I've made several trips to Paris, I have never visited the famous bridge called Pont des Arts.  Actually, I did not even know about the bridge until after I returned from our last trip in 2011.  What a shame, for a woman who wanted to live in Paris and writes a blog about Paris!

Oh well, I know about it now, and if you didn't know, you will too!

Since my return, the bridge has been in the news a lot more (the Kardashians were there),  so you know more people are becoming familiar with the bridge and its long history.  As a matter of fact, about a year ago a new pedestrian bridge was constructed in my city along the lake.  It is a beautiful setting, just a perfect spot for our very own little version of Pont des Arts.  About 10 couples realized the possibility (I guess this town is just not up on its French culture) and quickly secured their love locks to the bridge. My boyfriend and I went over and took some photos.  We returned a few months ago to see how the locks were progressing and they had all been removed.  I guess the US/France rivalry still continues!!!

anyway read on....

As the story goes, at some point in time, padlocks began appearing on some of the most iconic bridges in Paris.  There doesn't seem to be an exact origin nor an exact explanation for why.  In the beginning the locks seemed to magically appear, put there secretly, but over time the ritual began to attract lovers from all over the world who delighted in unabashedly displaying their love by attaching padlocks on the bridges as an apparent sign of everlasting and undying love.

The way the ritual goes, is that lovers write their names on a padlock, lock it on the bridge and throw the key into the Seine.

The interesting thing is that as much as the lovers rejoice in this public display of love, the residents of Paris seem to detest it.  In 2010 the Paris Town Hall declared war on the locks and "someone" cut through the wires and removed all the locks.  In a matter of months the locks reappeared in even bigger numbers.  There are now about 2,000 love padlocks of all shapes, sizes and colors on the bridges of Paris.

Here's a little youtube history of the bridge for those of you who prefer video

UPDATE:

The Pont des Arts bridge over the Seine, (which has become a bridge where lovers go to express their love with an initialed padlock), in central Paris was closed for a few hours on Sunday after a metal grill laden with padlocks left by amorous couples collapsed onto the walkway. A similar incident happened last year. No one was hurt in either incident.

My guess it, if you want to see this bridge in all it's locked glory you better get over to Paris fast! Well, this is the excuse I'm going to use to plan a trip in the near future!  Hey, any excuse will do to get me to Paris!

Enjoy your day!