Why Paris took down its love locks, and what couples do now
· 2 min read
For about a decade, the Pont des Arts in Paris was covered in padlocks. Couples wrote their names on them, clipped them to the railings, and threw the key into the Seine. By the early 2010s the bridge was one of the best-known romantic gestures in the world, and visitors came just to add their own.
What went wrong
The railings weren't built to carry that much metal. In June 2014, part of the parapet collapsed under the weight of the locks. News reports at the time said the section that fell weighed around 700 kilograms. Another section gave way a month later, and the city began repairing the damaged parts.
Paris tried a few fixes. It put up temporary panels, ran a campaign asking visitors to take selfies instead of attaching locks, and urged couples to stop. In June 2015 the city had the locks cut off. News reports put the haul at about 45 tonnes. Glass panels now stand where the railings were, and a padlock can't be clipped to them.
The tradition outlasted the bridge
Paris isn't the only city with this problem. Bridges in many places have filled up with locks, and many of those cities have asked couples to stop or cut the locks off, for the same reasons: weight, rust, and the cost of removal.
The urge behind the locks hasn't gone away. People still want a small, physical-feeling thing they can point to and say: this is us, and it's meant to last.
A lock that weighs nothing
That's why we built EverloveLocks. It's a bridge that never ends, and you can hang an engraved lock on it with your initials and a date. It stays there for good. It has no weight to bear and no city worker to cut it off, nobody has to throw a key into a river, and you can visit it from anywhere.
It works the way the real thing did. You choose a shape and a metal finish, engrave your initials and a date, and your lock hangs on the cable alongside everyone else's. An Eternity lock hangs on a glowing iron arch instead. You can add a private vow, send your lock to someone as an email card, and share a link.
If you're still planning a trip to Paris
The bridge is worth seeing, and the view is better without the locks. Bring a camera and leave the padlock at home. If you want to mark the moment, hang a lock on ours before you go.