Down Memory Lane in Paris as Locks Removed From the Pont des Arts Bridge

I believe that I'm a practical person with fairly stable emotions.But there are a few situations that have a tendency to create a certain amount of dissonance and yesterday's news that the city of Paris started removing padlocks from the Pont des Arts on Monday, effectively ending the tourist tradition of attaching "love locks" to the bridge, qualifies as one such.

  

  Pont des Arts Bridge on my visit, Nov 2012 

For years, visitors have been attaching locks with their personalised love messages to the bridge in symbolic acts of affection. In fact, some go on to seal the deal by throwing keys into the Seine River below.Of course, there's no way of actually evaluating what percentage of these love locks actually worked but for those who 'believe',  it definitely fulfills a fundamental need.

Up Close- I just had to get this shot

I visited Paris in Nov 2012 and June 2013  and on each of those visits, I had a great time walking through and exploring the cobbled streets and alleys that make up this vibrant and bustling city. Going through my photos,  I've been able to pull out these pics from the Nov 2012 visit and am positive that they will suffice for purposes of this blog post.

Loved being there and so glad I did.

According to the Paris City Council on its website, the phenomenon spread to other bridges, creating two major concerns for the city: "degradation of property heritage and a risk to the safety of visitors, Parisians and tourists." Graffiti, pickpockets and vendors selling cheap padlocks also became a problem, and sections of fencing on the Pont des Arts began to crumble under the locks' weight. At its peak, the bridge carried more than 700,000 locks with an estimated combined weight roughly the same as 20 elephants.

Reason enough to go for what is currently underway, look at the photograph below(clicked yesterday) and you will see what a huge transformation is ongoing. It is very possible that after the plexiglass has been put on the Pont des Arts Bridge and people have forgotten what it looked like, the Paris City Council will have reason enough to sit back and reflect on the massive and successful enterprise that they undertook.

Unrecognisable-On Monday, 1/6/15

Image -Courtesy Getty

As for me, all I can honestly say today, I'm so glad I was there and will always remember it the way I saw it then.