Last year the city of Paris launched the #LoveWithoutLocks campaign, aiming to stop the famous tourist tradition of putting love locks on the city’s bridges, promoting the taking of selfies on them instead. This came a few months after part of the famous Pont des Arts collapsed under the weight of the locks attached to it.
I’ve visited Paris more times than I can remember, but I’ve never had the chance to attach a lock to the Pont des Arts. These locks, though, are one of my favourite modern-day sights in the City of Light.
That being said, I pulled up photos from a few visits, and completely see the problem! Below is me with a few locks in April 2012, and again just under two years later in the same spot!
On my visit last weekend I brought a friend to see the bridge, only to discover that all the locks were covered by graffitied wood panels. I hope that they can find a way to keep some of the locks on display, and still maintain the safety of the bridge, because sadly, the romance was gone and the view just wasn’t the same.
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