The city of love is just a little less romantic today after workers began dismantling the Love Locks from the Ponte des Arts Bridge overlooking the Seine River in Paris yesterday.

“C’est toi, por moi et personne d’autre.”  ~ Unknown

The padlocks first started appearing in secret under the guise of nightfall over a decade ago, placed there by lovers who wanted to show a symbol of their everlasting love for each other. Over time, people became more brazen, and soon tourists would travel to Paris and attach them to the bridge in broad daylight.

The tradition is couples would bring a padlock, sometimes with their names on it, and kiss as they attached it to the bridge; the keys to it would then be thrown over into the Seine.

Locking their love into eternity.

Paris was the first city to have the Love Locks, and since then it has spread internationally. Even the quaint seaport city of Portland, Maine has a small collection of Love Locks. Although for this city, it is currently being encouraged; many wonder if the trend in Paris will have lasting effects on this quaint and romantic tradition.

This is not the first time that the locks have been taken down—back in 2012 they were dismantled for many of the same reasons, but soon, the bridge was covered once again in the Locks of Love.

The reasons cited by the city are both of environmental and structural concern. One issue is that officials have estimated that over 93 metric tons of metal have been attached to the bridge which is the equivalent of three large trucks sitting on the bridge at all times.

The other concern is the environmental impact of all the rust going into Seine from the metal locks. Not only are the keys of all the locks thrown into the river, but the rust from the numerous locks drains into the Seine as well.

This time Paris sanitation is installing Plexiglas over the bridge to ward out the return of the locks––so while it is still the city of love, the era of declaring it on a lock has come to an end.

Parisians interviewed back in 2012 had quite a different take on it, and think the tourists are ridiculous for believing a padlock is a symbol of love. After all to them, true love isn’t something to be locked into.

“At the heart of love à la française lies the idea of freedom. To love truly is to want the other free, and this includes the freedom to walk away. Love is not about possession or property. Love is no prison where two people are each other’s slaves. Love is not a commodity, either. Love is not capitalist, it is revolutionary. If anything, true love shows you the way to selflessness.“ ~ waiter at a café on the Left Bank

 

Sources:

nytimes.com

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Relephant read:

How to Fall in Love Like a Parisian.

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Author: Kate Rose

Editor: Travis May

Photos: Wikipedia, video still