Cathinjoetown

I was walking across the Pont Alexandre the other day and at mid-point, attached to one of the decorative medallions, were many, many padlocks, mostly the size used on luggage, locked to each other. Any special meaning or just a case of it started with one....

Oh, and someone tried the gold ring scam on me as I was on the bridge but he seemed to lose his nerve after saying, "Look what I found." Perhaps my glare? So tempting to grab it and toss it in the river.

Paris is wonderful, as it always is for me. When I get home I'll post a short report on restaurants, the two manifestations so far, concerts and the clothes--could window shop for hours, lots of short dresses, skirts and winter shorts, black primarily but shots of purple and red, mostly accessories, and delicate muted prints on some of the dresses, but mostly variations on the little black dress, all adorable. I could not shoe horn myself into French sizes but I love to look at the windows and to people watch. More people using the velibs than I remember and over all, fewer smokers, yea!

Hadn't been to the Rodin museum in years, spent a pleasant hour or so in the garden--large temporary structures going up, I imagine for the Henry Moore exhibit next month, sorry I will miss that. But, to walk among the Rodin sculptures was a treat.

More later on Monet exhibit, etc.

Viajero2

The padlocks are sort of (sort of recent) tradition for when two lovers visit Paris, put the lock on the bridge as a symbol of their undying love, and throw the key in the river Seine to show that the bond will never be broken. The origin for this is unclear but many agree that started right after the publication of a very popular romantic novel in Italy titled "I Want You" by Federico Moccia, in which the hero and heroine attach a padlock with their name onto a lamppost on Ponte Milvio, near Rome, kiss and throw the key in the river Tiber. Moccia is wildly popular among Italian youngsters.

That said, authorities in the City of Paris are getting tired of the padlocks defacing their most beautiful bridges and they will be removed periodically.

hmmm

We saw the same sort of display and heard the same explanation overlooking the Bay of Naples a couple years ago. Suppose the fable was prompted by a padlock manufacturer?

Morningglory47

Saw the same thing in Seoul...so many locks it blocked the view.

Cathinjoetown

Thanks, the explanation vaguely fires a dead brain cell. I didn't find it a particularly attractive addition to a lovely bridge. Rainy and cold today but overall have had good weather up to now.

kerouac

The city is entertaining the concept of putting up some sort of special structure near the Seine for padlocks. It is probably best to just keep removing them and wait for the fad to pass.

Chyonijp

Hi Cathinjoetown

I will be making my first trip to Paris (solo) in late November and would love to know the areas or street names where you are window shopping. I can't wait to see those beautiful dresses that I probably won't be able to afford. : (

Cathinjoetown

Chyonijp,

Sorry to not answer you sooner. I did most of my window shopping in Place St. Sulpice and all the small streets in that area. Certainly not the only shopping area, there's the Marais, Rue des Francs Bourgeois in particular, and many others--the haute couture houses off the Champs Elysees, Fauborg St. Honore, etc. Everyone has favorites.

But, back to the 6th arr, there are very pretty small boutiques on Rue Bonaparte, particularly either side of St. Germain and up to Place St. Sulpice. Just get a good map and wander around. On tiny Rue Princesse there is a terrific accessories shop, of course I've forgotten the name, and also Eskandar, clothes I can actually wear though not afford.

I highly recommend the Blay/Foldex Paris par Arrondissement, a small plastic-covered booklet of maps of each Paris arr.--almost impossible to get lost with it in hand. Had it for years but assume it's still in print or am sure you can find something similar.

Have a great time.

Michel_Paris

If you want to do some "leche-vitrine", translated as window licking , go to Place Vendome and check out the windows of the high end jewellers...same square as the Ritz.

BKP

What a coincidence! I just posted about these padlocks on my Prague trip report. According to wikipedia they started in Hungary, as a way for students to show their commitment to their particularly hard course of study and then also between two people in love.

The little bridge with all the padlocks in Prague is tiny and a bit out of the way. I don't have a problem with it, in fact, we attached our own little padlock to it as well. I think it's sweet.

Attnymom

Looking forward to your trip report! We are planning a trip to France this summer for a relative's wedding and Paris will definitely be on the itinerary. I am always interested in good restaurant recommendations in Paris. Funny about the ring scam - last time we were in Paris my husband got hit up 3 times with the gold ring scam - guess he looked gullible!

A

isabel

I know I have seen padlocks on bridges in at least five different cities in the past few years so I googled it and apparently the tradition has been going on since the 1980s and I found a list of over 25 bridges in as many countries all over the world. Three bridges were listed for Paris alone.

Lynnaustin

Yes, I had also heard that the cities and residents were getting fed up with this custom as Viejera2 mentioned above. I do love the bridges and would consider this like grafitti.