Ah Paris, the city of lurve. This beautiful place is seemingly designed for romance from its winding cobbled streets, stunning architecture and famous intricate bridges over the Seine covered in locks, something all love birds had to tick off on their Paris itinerary.
Well it was until this week. Over 45 tonnes of heavy padlocks weighing down the Pont Des Arts bridge have been taken down, along with the lock the French man and I had attached nearly two years ago. The stereotype of French men being romantic is oh so true, often difficult to get used to as a reserved English girl used to three X’s at the end of a text message showing a mans feelings not poetry and passionate declarations of love.
I giggled uncomfortably as he suggested we ‘lock our love’ right at the start of our relationship. I mocked other couples who had done the same thing, thinking it was tacky and over-touristy rather than some heartfelt sign of affection. But as we could hardly understand each other I think he took my uncertainty for shyness and proceeded to buy a heavy gold lock from the many sellers lining the streets.
I was still shaking my head en route to the bridge that sticky hot August day. I wasn’t a fluffy hearts and teddy bear kind of girl. I don’t even like receiving flowers as they soon die, give me a solid cactus or even better a venus fly trap any day.
But then something changed. As he carved our initials and the date into this lock I strolled around the bridge listening to a stripy top wearing accordion player and began to read the messages clipped onto the bent wire.
There were inscriptions, messages and ‘in jokes’ from loved up pairs all over the world. I found myself wondering what happened to these couples, were they still together, do they look back fondly at the time they were swept up in Paris attaching their own lock heady with love (and probably French red wine).
Seeing the locks of different shapes and sizes, some attached onto others as space was running out, made me realise it wasn’t cheesy. It was actually pretty amazing. People had stood in the exact spot I was with their hearts full of happiness and love. Not fighting, not leaving messages of hate or crappy graffiti but taking the time to leave a token of their feelings amongst other happy souls.
I was ready to join them. We eventually found a spot to attach our customised lock, held hands and chucked the keys into the Seine. I didn’t know back then that this romantic guy I could barely understand (the early days of our relationship was unofficially sponsored by Google Translate) would win round this cold hearted girl. That we would overcome language and cultural differences to live together, travel round South America, get our own flat and own a kitten. I am so glad I overcame my reservations and jumped onto the lock bandwagon, that day in Paris will always be a special moment for me.
So yeah I felt a little sad finding out the news that Paris council have now torn down our lock, among with a million others. But the 19th century bridge was crowded with heavy metal when we visited two years ago, so I’m not surprised they wanted to remove them to ensure the bridge doesn’t collapse, at the end of the day our lock was just a lump of metal. The true feelings and sentiments have been locked away to memory and you don’t need a key to open them.
Did you leave a lock on the bridge?
