Pont des Arts

Welcome to the Pont des Arts, our first stop on this walk through the 6th arrondissement. And what a place to start. At its peak, this bridge carried roughly 45 tons of padlocks on its railings. Couples from all over the world clicked their locks onto the metal, threw the keys into the Seine, and called it eternal love. In 2014, a whole section of railing gave way under the weight of around 700,000 locks. The city launched a campaign called #LoveWithoutLocks, replaced every railing with glass panels in 2015, and somewhere down there on the riverbed, the keys are still resting.

However, Napoleon, the man who ordered this bridge built between 1801 and 1804, was not exactly a fan. He found it too light, too delicate, not grand enough for his capital. He wanted power. He got a garden bridge with benches, orange trees along the railings, and lanterns. On opening day, 64,000 people crossed it, a flower seller and an ice cream vendor showed up immediately, and the city fell in love with it instantly.

Even the Germans spared it in 1944. When they retreated, they blew up bridge after bridge across Paris. The Pont des Arts they left standing. Some places just have a way of surviving everything.