Pont des Arts, Paris, France

The Pont des Arts is the most popular pedestrian bridge across the Seine River in Paris.
The original bridge was built in 1804 with nine arches, but it was in disrepair by the 1970s.
In the 1980s it was rebuilt with seven arches, and that’s the bridge you see today.
This is how the bridge looks from the Right Bank, northwest of the bridge.
Behind the bridge, you can see the Île de la Cité island.
The river is flowing towards the camera (very slowly!).
The bridge is about half a mile west of Notre-Dame, which you can see in the background.
That’s a Bateaux-Mouches excursion boat heading downriver in the foreground.
There’s also a Batobus in the background, a kind of river-based shuttle service.
The Pont des Arts is extremely popular with Parisians and tourists alike.
It’s quiet and scenic, and there are people on the bridge at all times of day.
In summertime, the bridge is crowded with people holding picnics.
The sparkly things on the railings of the bridge are padlocks.
Couples in love attach them to the bridge and then throw the keys into the river.
The city hasn’t really decided if this is a good or bad thing.
This is on the deck of the bridge, looking south towards the Institut de France.
And this is looking the opposite way (north), towards the Louvre Museum.
Even on a chilly and windy day like this, people still like to stroll or sit on the bridge.
Here you can see all the padlocks on the bridge.
Someone (but not the government) removed more than 1000 of them one night in 2010.
They quickly multiplied again, inscribed with vows of eternal love (or whatever).
The tradition had already existed elsewhere in the world,
but it has only been seen in Paris for the last few years.
This is a view of the bridge from the east, on the Left (south) Bank of the river.
This is the west side of the bridge, still from the Left Bank.
The boat traffic is constant, especially that of the touristy excursion boats.
This is a Batobus, which makes multiple stops along the river.
Excursion boats are a nice way to see the city, in good weather.
Another view of the west side of the bridge. That’s the Louvre in the background.
In picnic season, there’s hardly room to walk on this bridge,
but this was in March, and it was still a bit chilly for picnics.
If you photograph a street musician, be sure to give him money (as I did).
Sorry about the instability of this traveling shot.
For some reason I was even more shaky than usual on this day.
This is a ramp leading to and from the bridge on the southwest corner.
Thank you for watching my video.
(Yes, it sure would—although it would attract a lot of attention.)