No more love locks says Paris's mayor
Anne Hidalgo wants to find a "suitable alternative" to the padlocks placed on bridges by romantic couples
LOVE LOCKS, symbols of romance that couples have attached to bridges in Paris, will soon disappear.
The French capital’s new mayor, Anne Hidalgo, has decided to have the padlocks removed from the city’s Pont des Arts and Archevéché Leopold Sedar Senghor removed, Le Parisien has reported.
But it’s not all bad news for old - and new - romantics.
Ms Hidalgo has asked the city’s culture secretary Bruno Julliard to find a suitable alternative for couples who want to leave a little personal mark in the City of Love, without risking damage to bridges over the Seine.
Last month, images on Twitter sparked rumours that “love locks” were being removed from Pont des Arts.
At the time, the mayor’s office told France Info that the guard rails were being replaced because the weight of the thousands of padlocks was making them unsafe - not because of any ban.
In 2012, the city had decided to take a “live and let live” approach to the love padlocks.
Some people will be pleased at Ms Hidalgo’s decision. Not everyone was in favour of the love locks. The online Ban Love Padlocks In Paris! petition has collected thousands of signatures, and the group No Love Locks wrote to all mayoral candidates before the elections.
Photo: Jeanne Menj
