Tell all Paris of your Valentine

SWEET words, a declaration of love or even a proposal: Paris is opening up the capital’s 170 electronic billboards to lovers to declare themselves.

Messages can be in English or French and you have until 16.00 next Monday (February 8) to send your words of love to your Valentine.

The mairie will be vetting the messages to go on the giant signboards and picking the best ones. They are limited to only 140 characters– so perfect for Twitter users - but they are in capitals, without accents, and written over seven lines (maximum 20 characters on a line).

This is the third year in a row the messages have been on display and they will be screened all day long on February 14.

Our best advice is to be original and concise and, although the messages can be in English, for those who want to write in French, bear in mind that “je t’aime” is stronger than “je t’adore”.

Getting words of love on the billboards will be a legal way for people to celebrate their love as it is now illegal to fix padlocks on to the capital’s Pont des Arts.

To put your message up on a billboard, click through to www.paris.fr/saintvalentin

Photo: Jean-Baptiste Gurliat/Mairie de Paris