Locks of Love

The Pont des Arts, which bridges the Seine from the Academie de France over to east end of the Louvre, has turned into an informal monument to love. People expressing the eternity of their love lock a padlock, usually with their initials or names on it, on the wire of the bridge's railing. Hundreds of locks now decorate the Pont des Arts.

Apparently this fad was already happening on other bridges around the world and has now reached Paris, much to the city's dismay at having a charming pedestrian bridge effectively scrawled upon with metal graffiti. The trend has grown to the point where the press has taken notice.

Until you can't see the Seine anymore, or until the bridge collapses from their weight, the locks constitute a kind of folk-art exhibit. Passers-by can see locks that apparently were left by all kinds of people, with all kinds of messages.