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LOVE LOCKS

From padlocks to pens: Loved-up tourists graffiti iconic Paris bridge

The iconic Pont des Arts in Paris might be free of "love locks" but tourists are finding a new way of leaving their mark on the bridge over the Seine.

Published: 6 October 2017 13:47 CEST
From padlocks to pens: Loved-up tourists graffiti iconic Paris bridge
Photo: AFP

The bridge was finally cured of the long term scourge of love locks back in 2015, when the City Hall replaced the railings with glass panels.

But it seems one remedy has provoked another ailment, with some tourists so desperate to leave a sign of their love that have switched from the padlock to the pen.

Recent pictures posted on the Facebook page of the No Love Locks campaign group showed how couples were leaving messages and hearts on the perspex panels.

 
Lisa Anselmo, Co-founder, No Love Locks told The Local: “The tagging of the Pont des Arts just makes more obvious what we’ve been saying all along: this is about willful destruction of historic places, and a disrespect for Parisians. Locks or pens, it’s the same sickness: ego.”
 
The pictures, which included one couple being caught in the act, sparked anger with many commenters slamming the tourists as “vandals”.

“Would people do this in their home town/city? What makes them think it’s OK just because they are away from home? An on-the-spot fine should be introduced,” wrote one angry commenter.

Another wrote: “Really cannot believe the disgusting disgraceful behaviour of some people …. go away and vandalise your own town or city.”

Others pointed the finger at the police and Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo.

“What is wrong with the police? They can't spare one officer to patrol that beautiful bridge and prevent this?,” said one.

“Mayor Hidalgo still too busy making short term apartment rentals illegal to actually take care of her city? Almost glad we never got to the Pont des Arts this visit because this would've made me insane,” added another.

The glass panels were placed on the bridge in 2015 after City Hall were finally forced to act after part of the railings collapsed under the sheer weight of the love locks.

Although they are regularly cleaned, the hefty bill is one the Town Hall could do without.

While Pont des Arts may be free of the scourge of love locks, the nearby Leopold-Sedar-Senghor footbridge is still blighted by padlocks.

City Hall has put up signs warning tourists not to place love locks on the bridge but it appears to have had little impact.

 

 

 

 

TOURISM

Just find another way: Paris tells lovers to ditch love-locks

Paris is having another go at urging tourists to stop locking their love to the city's bridges.

Published: 3 August 2016 08:46 CEST
Just find another way: Paris tells lovers to ditch love-locks
Photo: AFP

Love may know no bounds, but Paris intends to instill some: authorities are going to take a tougher line with swooning couples attaching “love-locks” to city bridges as a sign of their undying devotion.

In June last 2015 authorities removed hundreds of thousands of such padlocks from the city bridges, notably the Pont des Arts which had a section collapse under the weight of the locks.

The wire mesh panels on which the love-locks were attached were replaced by perspex. Authorities have also been carrying out a similar transformation of the Pont de l’Archevêché.

However this has not dissuaded tourists who have turned their attention to the statues on the historic Pont de Neuf.

The railings on the Passerelle Léopold-Sédar-Senghor are also covered in padlocks and the phenomenon has spread to the bridges over the Canal Saint-Martin, made famous in the film Amelie.

In fact any fence or lampost near the water seems to be a magnet for the metal locks.

A previous post campaign by Paris town hall encouraged loved-up tourists to take selfies and post them online rather than lock their love to a bridge but it failed to ease the problem.

Paris deputy mayor Bruno Juillard said “signboards” would be installed on the bridge and others in French and English, with messages such as “No locks, Paris thanks you” and “Find another way to show your love.”

“We want Paris to remain the capital of romance and love, that lovers from across the world come to Paris. It is a very romantic city and particularly the River Seine, but we must also protect this heritage,” said Juillard.

Loved-up visitors from around the world have for years written their names or initials on padlocks to symbolise their passion, then tossed the key into the River Seine so that nothing could ever break the bond.

In summer 2014 police had to hurriedly usher tourists off the Pont des Arts when a section of the footbridge collapsed under the weight of the locks covering the 155-metre-long bridge.

Lisa Anselmo who runs the pressure group No Love Locks has said in the past the authorities must use the law to end the problem.

The only way the city is going to get a handle on this is to ban it,” Anselmo told The Local. “They need to start fining people but I think they are afraid to come across as unwelcoming to tourists,” she said.

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