Pon De Zar is well known all over the world, for its lockets of love that all couples lock along the parapet and then throw the key in the river. Last year though, a part of the railing of the bridge collapsed from the weight of all those lockets, luckily without causing any injuries to people who were passing by.

The mayor of Paris spoke of deterioration of cultural heritage and danger for the passengers’ safety so he decided to remove decidedly all the lockets from the bridge.

Speaking of deterioration of cultural heritage, the mayor is right since this bridge is a deck arch bridge and is regarded as the most ornate and extravagant bridge in the city. It is named after Tsar Alexander III and you’d actually be surprized by its history and especially its extraordinary statues that decorate the bridge from on end to the other. From lamps, nymphs, fames and horses everything seems so artistic and harmonic with the all others. Furthermore, the bridge is truly a culture flagship for the city and a proof to that point is the numerous times that is has been used to film movies.

The first step that the authorities will take is to replace the railing and the wooden surfaces with pieces of various artists.

The 57 year old Zan, a tourist from southern France who came to walk on the famous bridge with his 42 year old wife says: “It is kind of foolish and sad. It’s actually a symbolic gesture to put a locket in order to seal your love here, on this bridge in Paris, the city of love and lovers”.

Another tourist, a 33 year old Argentine who came to Pont De Zan to lock a locket and to wish a happy marriage for him and his wife, comes to add: “They could gather all the lockets and make some kind of statue out of them”. That is actually a good suggestion worth taking under consideration since it will make the people less disappointed. The only problem would probably on which side of the bridge the statue would be put.

The Pont Alexander III bridge is of historic importance to the city, that is for sure. On the other hand though, couples locking all those lockets along the bridge to seal their love may be a more recent touristic attraction but it has been going on for so long now (even the locals participate in that activity) that it has come to the point where this is part of the city’s culture and history as well.

So the bridge needs to be preserved and thus all those lockets need to be removed but the authorities should just dispose them. This would be like getting rid of thousands and thousands of love stories and promises. Instead, they owe it to all the couples that put their locks on the bridge, to do something with the lockets that makes them as important and meaningful as they are now.

Surely the city of love can come up with a great solution to any problem when there a variable involved that is called love!