About those locks of love...

Bonjour tout le monde,
As I wrote a while ago, the Pont des Arts has been ravaged by tourists 'locking their love' with real locks on the bridge.  Eighteen months ago, one of the panels on the bridge, weighed down by tons of locks, fell into the Seine.  As it turns out, love is quite heavy.  Tons of locks were cut off before the wire panels were removed.
Now the Pont des Arts has panels that are decorated by local street artists.  However that has not deterred determined lovers, who put locks almost everywhere in the City of Lights.  The Pont l'Eveque is currently threatened by the weight of love.
This article is about what is happening to the passenger bridge.  How would you like to see this bridge, and others, in person?  Come with me to Paris and Barcelona, June 26 - July 4, 2016.  We will visit these two awesome cities, walk the Champs Elysees and the Rambla in Barcelona, feast on some great cuisine, and even taste Spanish cava on one of the excursions.  Time and space are running out, only $300 is needed right now to guarantee that you are not shut out.

The NY Times' article http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/01/travel/love-locks-paris-vancouver.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&version=Moth-Visible&module=inside-nyt-region&region=inside-nyt-region&WT.nav=inside-nyt-region

Information on Paris and Barcelona 2016: http://jackiwilliams-jones.grouptoursite.com

Love in Paris, and the Pont des Arts

Bonjour tout le monde!
If you have been in Paris within the past six years or so, you might have found yourself on the Pont des Arts, which links the Louvre with the 6th arrondissment on the other side of the Seine.  This pedestrian bridge originally dates back to 1804 but was rebuilt in 1985 in steel rather than the weaker cast iron.  Sometime around 2008, lovers and visitors to Paris started "locking in their love" by leaving a lock on the bridge. Bouquinistes lining the sides of the Seine near the bridge started selling locks and providing Sharpie pens for the lovers to inscribe their initials.  Similar love lock bridges exist in New York, Seoul, and London.
Now, it seems, that all this love is negatively affecting the structure of the Pont des Arts bridge.  The bridge is actually buckling under the weight of all those "love locks" that have been attached to the railings.  Now, tourists in love are asked to send  a virtual lock to http://www.lovemasterlock.eu/.  After all, once it's on the Internet, it's really forever!
I must confess that Michael and I have been tempted, but we have never done the lock thing.  What about you?  Have you ever left a lock on a bridge to commemorate your love?  Where?  When?  And, most importantly, are you still together?
Here is the original article:  http://www.bbc.com/travel/feature/20140421-paris-to-tourists-stop-locking-down-love

Love locks on the Ponte Vecchio in Florence