A Valentine Day's Gift

Some like to say it with chocolates, while others buy flowers, but now a growing number of couples are expressing their love for each other with ‘love locks’.

PARIS -  ‘the romance capital’ and the ‘city for lovers:


If you thought romance was passé in Paris, all you have to do is look at Paris bridges to see it is being displayed in full force.
The Paris “love locks” are back. The love padlocks, called cadenas d’amour.
The love padlocks have been a phenomenon in cities as varied as Belgium to Japan.
For those of you who haven’t heard of them, here's the story. A couple writes their names on a padlock and locks it onto one of the bridges.
They then throw the key into the Seine River as a symbol of their undying love.

Eiffel tower view from Seine River

As BonjourParis reported last year, the locks on the Pont des Arts near the Louvre were cut off, reportedly by the government. But romance beats politics in Paris and the locks can now be seen on two Paris bridges: Pont des Arts and Pont de l'Archevêché.

However, there is a difference on which bridge you pledge your love.


A French tour guide was overheard explaining the phenomenon to her enthralled group.
“There are two bridges in Paris with the locks. You must be very careful which bridge you put your lock on because Pont des Arts is for your committed love, while Pont de l'Archevêché is for your lover.”
This may explain why Pont de l'Archevêché is completely packed with locks, while Pont des Arts has plenty of room.

Seine River Cruise

Some say the only way to break the seal of love brought on by this love lock act is to find the key and unlock the padlock. Of course, that is nearly impossible, since the keys lie at the bottom of the river. This reality induces many brokenhearted individuals to return with bolt cutters to try to chop off the padlocks.


Thus, I got to tell you guys and girls: Once you get a chance to experience this French romance in Paris, do NOT let it go! Sitting in the small café, drinking latté with the delicious French desserts, we don’t need to adapt ourselves intentionally into the exotic atmosphere here, and not even the flowers are necessary. Just because, if we are with the one we do love, every single day is Valentine’s Day!

However, the locals are not very much in favor of this tradition. Some of them believe that it disturbs their eco system while others feel it tarnishes the image of their bridges.

“The fools! They haven’t understood a thing about love, have they?” was the conclusion recently of a 23-year-old waiter at Panis, a cafe on the Left Bank with a view over Notre-Dame. 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.

In his recent book, “In Praise of Love,” the French philosopher Alain Badiou reminds us that love implies constant risk. There is no safe, everlasting love. The idea that you can lock two people’s love once and for all, and toss the key, is a puerile fantasy. For Mr. Badiou, love is inherently hazardous, always on the brink of failure and above all vulnerable. Embrace its fragility, wish your beloved to be free and you might just, only just, have a chance to retain his or her undying gratitude, and love. But don’t ever dream of locks and throwing keys overboard, especially not in Paris.

So, dear friends. The decision is entirely ours. Whether we want to lock our love in Pad-Locks or in Lip-Locks.