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There are many ways to express your love: you can buy flowers or chocolate. You can write a poem or a song. In Paris, also known as one of the most romantic cities in the world, you can express your love through locks.
Since 2008, lovestruck Parisians wrote their names or initials with their loved ones’ on a padlock, attached it to monuments, and threw the key in the River Seine in an act of undying love. But the metail railings of the Pont des Arts bridge, home to hundreds of thousands of locks, was cut off, and will soon be replaced by plexiglass. Just last year, another railing collapsed because of the heavy weight of the locks.
The act of attaching locks to historic monuments (like the Eiffel Tower) has become a headache for French officials, and they say that it harms monuments. Some citizens are also against the locks, calling it an eyesore and an act of vandalism. Petitions and online campaigns have been set up to put a stop to it.
Anne Hidalgo, one of the petition organizers, said that the locks were “like a plague on our city’s historic bridges and sites.” She also said that the Pont des Arts has been “terribly degraded, both visually and structurally.” She pointed out that the Seine has been polluted by thousands of discarded keys.
Looks like couples need to look for other ways to express their love. Or is it really walang forever? (No forever)
What do you think? Share your thoughts below!
