Pont des Arts & the Seine

Where love almost sank a bridge — and the river that made Paris. The Seine has been Paris's liquid main street for 2,000 years, a trade route long before café terraces. The Pont des Arts, linking the Louvre to the Institut de France, was the city's first iron bridge, commissioned by Napoleon. From 2008 it became the 'lovers' bridge', its railings buried under padlocks — by 2014 an estimated 700,000 locks, whose sheer weight tore off an eight-foot section of railing. In 2015 the city swapped the rails for glass panels. Fun fact: 37 bridges cross the Seine within Paris; the toll here was once five centimes (1–2 € today). → Next: Cross the bridge to the Left Bank and turn left along the river on Quai de Conti — the green boxes appear immediately. (2 min)