The bridge railings are weighted down with love locks, some long necked ones holding 6 or seven more in a tower formation. There seems to be no more room. On this visit I notice something new, grafittied panels where hundreds of precious locks used to reside. Then upon leaving I see a sign silkscreened in blue below the steps leading to the bridge. Very worn and almost illegible it states “#lovewithoutlocks.  Our bridges can no longer withstand your gestures of love. NO MORE LOVE LOCKS! Unchain your love on lovewithoutlocks.paris.fr“. When I visited this site here’s what it said: “An end to padlocks: through this site, declare your love in pictures and bridges will be spared a heavy heart. Share your photos on social network sites with the hashtag #lovewithoutlocks and they will appear on this social wall to lovers worldwide!”

Passing under the bridge as I snap a photo there’s a doubled up barge with scrap metal going by. Heavy metal all right.

On the bridge is a man conspicuously selling locks on the walkway and a young woman belting out songs accompanied by her sound system. It’s only after I examine the photo closely that I see she is blind or partially sighted. No one seems to be stopping to listen even though her delivery is soulful, above average. Her name is Sandrine Dubois and her CD’s for sale are in a yellow box.

Pont des Arts, 75006 Paris, France. There’s always something entertaining going on here.