In the U S and also Europe many cities have athletic shoes thrown high over electric or phone wires along streets or crossing them - always seem cute to me - not sure why those locks have raised the hackles of so many - Paris has much worse problems like dogie doo on streets to be worried about IMO.

Kill joys!

Things were better in the old days.

We are having municipal elections across France tomorrow (second and final round next Sunday), and I am hoping that the moment the elections are finished, something can be done about the problem. Since municipal terms are for six years, it is the sort of measure that can be taken quickly with no risk from public opinion or media condemnation.

Things were better in the old days.

Yes before combination locks.

PalenQ wrote: "In the U S and also Europe many cities have athletic shoes thrown high over electric or phone wires along streets or crossing them - always seem cute to me ..."

You might think them less cute if you knew what they signify.

<i> always seem cute to me - not sure why those locks have raised the hackles of so many </i>

about as cute as carving a heart with your initials in a tree or tagging a building with your initials, but probably more destructive than either one.

I think they are horrible!!

PalenQ wrote: "In the U S and also Europe many cities have athletic shoes thrown high over electric or phone wires along streets or crossing them - always seem cute to me ..."

You might think them less cute if you knew what they signify.
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There are many urban myths about these. It started as an innocent exercise and remains that way for the most part. Do some research and you will see that 90% of still innocent. Take at a look at my 1:55 PM post and ask yourself does a professional sports team want to be associated with drugs and gangs? Well maybe in the UK they do.

"Paris has much worse problems like dogie doo on streets to be worried about IMO."


On the dog dropping front, Paris has made much progress from the time around fifteen years ago that I had to leave my shoes outside on the balcony of my hotel at night. That problem has been tackled fairly successfully.

I am confident that professional sports teams do not want to be associated with drugs and gangs (or, at least, don't want any associations to be seen by the public). I'm equally confident that the people who put the trainers there are not usually members of professional sports teams, or the sort of fan they would wish to encourage.

At a minimum, the presence of trainers suspended from overhead lines usually indicates a neighbourhood in which you should be vigilant.

So will those of you who wants these locks unlocked and tossed into the recycle bin - are you also making petitions up for the towns of Amsterdam, Utrecht, Antwerp and pracitcally any Dutch or Flemish town saying you want the bikes that for years have been stacked and locked to any bridge railing or fence in site - that these bother you and you think the city should take action.

Pictures of jumbles of bikes also adorn travel web sites as being cute - much like Fodor's editors saw them as eye-catching enough to highlight.

Yup I expect all of you who want the locks in Paris off to then turn your attention to Holland where bikes are parked willy-nilly everywhere and bridge railings are much much more affected than in Paris.

Then scrutinize every city in Europe and create petitions from Americans about how this and that is ruining YOUR city, etc.

Padraig

American sports league spend a lot of money guarding against players betting, associating with known criminals (besides their own team mates), illegal drugs (as opposed to those prescribed by team doctors), and other illegal activities. Besides giving lectures before every season they each have hordes of ex-law enforcement officials (Including ex-FBI) snooping around.

If you remember that Michael Jordan played a year of minor league baseball. Well he is a compulsive gambler. And as the rumor goes they caught him doing something or other and instead of suspending him, he played minor league baseball for a team owned by his basketball team. This saved his and the league's reputation.

Brooklyn also has some of the toughest neighborhoods in the country and the Nets would be criticized harshly for encouraging anything illegal. Except the owner is one of the Russian oligarchs.

<i>where bikes are parked willy-nilly everywhere and bridge railings are much much more affected than in Paris.
</i>

I doubt it. Besides locks are permanent and unnecessary, whereas your counter example is a question of parking temporarily a means of transportation. Even if the wear and tear were the same, the reason for each activity would have to be weighed in terms of public utility.

Bikes and cheap Chinese locks are two totally different issues. There's no analogy there whatsoever.

Some basic physics: Put different types of metal in close proximity and in the presence of an electrolytic liquid (rainwater will do) and you have a galvanic cell. Corrosion happens in galvanic cells. Where the metals are stainless steel (as locks usually are) and cast iron (as bridges usually are) it is the cast iron that is corroded.

Perhaps if someone just attached an electric cable to the Pont des Arts, it would create a better show than the twinkling Eiffel Tower.

Ah yeh the Eiffel Tower was also nearly torn down by complaints from folks about it being a blight on the ParisScape - ugliness or beauty of course is in the eye of the beholder.

Michael - those Amsterdam bikes are not parked temporarily - some obviously have been there for ages - it's the local bikers garage. And it is way way more a hindrance than the locks in Paris. -Some places it is even hard to walk thru - like some spots around the main train station.

How about writing Rome officials that those coins being tossed in the Trevi Fountain creates a blight - or that those fake gladiators right in front of the Colosseum are a blight - tell them to clean up their act.

where does it end?

We just saw the locks on the Academia Bridge in Venice. They were ugly and rusty.

kerouac or other Parisians - are locals as upset about this as some American tourists?

curious - I would think there would be an outcry from locals if they view it as desecration?

curious as to sentiment which I assume is rather blase or something would have been done.

I say it is a local issue.

I do agree with PalenQ's comments.

Those upset about Parisians placing locks in various places should complain to the Paris civic authorities. Of course, if you are not a Parisian, you might be ignored.

Most Parisians have never seen the locks because they spend absolutely no time on these bridges -- they are in the metro.

There was actually an article about the petition in one of the free newspapers today. Unfortunately, the photograph used to illustrate the article was at least two years old, so it did not look as devastatingly appalling as it looks in 2014. I'm sure that this article was the very first time that many Parisians have ever even heard of the locks.

I don't know if I am a typical Parisian because sometimes two months can go by without me even setting foot on the Left Bank -- and my Parisian friends consider me to be someone who is out and around at all times and in the know about everything happening in the city. Actually, I do generally know just about everything that is happening because I read a lot of newspapers and tend to keep an eye on the internet.

There is a 'slogan' about Parisian life that was invented at the beginning of the 1970's and absolutely nothing has changed for most people since then: "metro, boulot, dodo." That means "commute, work, sleep." Tourists and visitors really have no idea about how the majority of Parisians live.

I place this issue right below world hunger but above Sex Trafficking.

Actually, I place this "issue" in the trash.

It's Budinskyism at its very worst. So yes in the trash!

The lack of respect for architecture as art is clearly evident on this thread. I think some of the comments, coming from known travel contributors, are quite appalling.

How about we super-glue heart-shaped pieces of paper to Venus de Milo to show the world that we were there and professed our love. I'm sure for some of you, it's not the same thing. Readers take note.

There is a 'slogan' about Parisian life that was invented at the beginning of the 1970's and absolutely nothing has changed for most people since then: "metro, boulot, dodo." That means "commute, work, sleep." Tourists and visitors really have no idea about how the majority of Parisians live.
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I think this is great idea, especially for people who are retired or need a break from their job, "The Metro, Boulot, and Dodo tour."
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People always write that when they come to NYC they want to live like and talk to a local. I tell them met me at the Duane Reade where I will buy some toilet paper and underarm deodorant and then you can talk to me as do the laundry and chop up some for dinner.

I do not think this board is inhabited by philistines; but the depth of emotion for this activity is akin to those of converts. Those who weren't born to the religion of Paris, must demonstrate their fealty, loyalty, and piety.

BTW the Dadaists which include such Frenchmen as Marcel Duchamp, Jean Arp, and Francis Picabia believed that the art that preceded them should be destroyed artistically and psychologically so that new art could exist. The uses of things change, and although as stated above, I do no like this manifestation of postpubescent romance, I cannot become as exorcised as some.

The lack of respect for architecture as art is clearly evident on this thread>

architecture! come on we are talking about bridge railings not some historic monument - the bridge itself may be but not the railings.

and for me it is an attraction that I will seek out next December when I go back to Paris - getting bent out of shape over something like that when many other things make Paris at times a hassle - like the obnoxious smog and traffic.

Be sure to take lots of photos of the locks, PalenQ, and please post them.

Alas, my summer plans do not include Paris. I went to France (Toulouse & Bordeaux) last summer. This summer: Poland, Belarus & Turkey. I won't get to take photos of the locks--sniff.

There are bridges with "love locks" in Poland if you feel the urge to photograph them.

Here is a list of locations of bridges with locks:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...e_locks#Poland

Oh, if people are still wondering what the current status of the love locks is in Paris, I made a whole photo report about them: http://anyportinastorm.proboards.com...-des-arts-love

Great pictures. And now I know we are not talking about locks of hair.

Oui another grea kerouac photo shoot and it shows many people reveling in looking at those locks - the main bridge is full of curious sightseers - sans locks no one would linger there - a great great tourist attraction but to some a blight - who is right or wrong no one - but as in kerouac's photos many tourists seem to love those locks - kudos to Fodor's for highlighting a relatively new and to me and many enduring we hope part of the ParisScape - year from now will be a UNESCO World Heritage Site perhaps!

Killjoys!

They are in Dublin too.

"sans locks no one would linger there"

Au contraire. The Pont des Arts has always been a spot to sit and watch the glorious scene. I have fond memories of doing so myself.

An entire session of a course I followed at the College de France on deriving meaning from works of art and literature was devoted to the Pont des Arts. It was presented by an outstanding lecturer and poet whom I had the privilege to hear deliver a different lecture in this series, who has now retired. Here is a link to that lecture (in French) for those who are interested:

http://www.college-de-france.fr/site...8-04-03__1.htm

It Scotland, they have a problem with the Lock Ness monster.

Pal, you are being too cool for school. I think the locks are mindless and selfish.

IMDonehere, you spelled Loch Ness wrong.

By the way, this is meant as a sarcastic J-O-K-E.