Amour eyesore?


An expression of love has transformed the bridges of Paris, famed for their beauty, into a public eyesore.

For several years now, lovers from around the world have proclaimed their ardor with the click of a padlock along the metalwork of their favorite bridges. What seemed like a quaint idea has metastasized into a preservationist problem. Officials now periodically remove the burdensome panels and place them in storage. Meanwhile, police are targeting lock sellers near bridges, but so far have refrained from cracking down on the passionate perps. —Diane Richard, writer, April 29

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Image: Thibault Camus/Associated Press

Source: Alissa J. Rubin, “On Bridges in Paris, Clanking With Love,” The New York Times,April 27