Love's locks on the Pont des Arts

Today, the Hotel de la Motte-Picquet is happy to tell its guests more about a lovely practice that has been underway for about five years : the installation of locks on the Pont des Arts. Our dear guests from all around the world frequently ask us what is the meaning of all these locks hung at the gates of the most famous bridge in the capital.

It was in 2008 that the "locks of lovers" began to appear. It seems that this tradition comes from Germany where lovers are used to seal their love on the bridge of Cologne before throwing the key into the Rhine in symbol of eternal union. In Paris, the small padlocks often bear the name of the lovers written in marker or engraving, as well as the date on which it was magically closed.

We recently received great pictures of our guests, friends now, who wanted to keep a memory of this unique moment :   If the CityHall of Paris admits that this tradition may eventually pose a problem for the conservation of the bridge, it likes this pretty habit that begins to swarm on the Pont du Double and, more recently, on the Pont de l’Archevêché, at the foot of the Cathedral Notre-Dame.   So, to all the romantic, the Hotel de la Motte-Picquet wishes all the happiness of the world and a wonderful time in the City of Love!