Lovers - Lasting Statement

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One of our lasting impressions of Paris, the city of love were the locks.  Locks of every kind and every size....locks from a grocery store.....expensive locks from locksmiths.....padlocks......combination locks and the stories they told.

Once when having lunch at a nearby cafe, our water asked us if we had we had been to Le Pont des Arts yet???  No we hadn't.  "Be sure to visit before you leave Paris", he said.  Merci Monsieur.....and we were on our way.

There are several bridges crossing the Seine river that cuts directly through Paris...separating the left bank from the right bank.  Each bridge has a special story behind it.  Napoleon's bridge, Henri the 4th's bridge, and the Place de la Concorde bridge across from the Orsay Museum.  I had heard about the Pont des Arts (Bridge of the Arts) before.  Often there are outdoor art exhibits on the walking bridge allowing visitors to stop and admire the artist's selections.  But this was not about an art exhibit....it was about statements of love.

As we approached the bridge it was late afternoon and sun reflected off of something along the siderails of the bridge.  From a distance it looked like jewels sparkling in the sunlight.

Along several of the bridges crossing the Seine, Parisians began a custom a few years ago that continues to this day...unique among the cities I have been to.

Here is the story:  If you are in a relationship, the bridge gives you a chance to make a lasting statement about your lover.  Buy a padlock, make your statement in permanent ink with a sharpie on the padlock, take it to one of the bridges crossing the Seine and permanently attach it to the side rail of the bridge.  Then toss the key into the water below signaling a lasting commitment.  However, if the relationship has not yet flowered or has become a bit "iffy"....buy instead a combination lock and attach it.  That way if in fact the relationship heads south....one can always return and with the right combination remove the lock and none will be the wiser.  Leave it to the Parisians to even bring love to the siderail of a bridge....maybe that is where the phrase "Love is in the air" came from?

Anyway, I know there will always be a piece of me in Paris on Le Pont des Arts.

Dan