Les Ponts De Paris

The Seine is the main river through Paris and it has an insane amount of history running through it. The ashes of Joan of Arc after the burning at the stake in 1431, the memory of 1900 Summer Olympic rowing, swimming and water polo events, and even bloodshed from Allied troops during the close of the Battle of Normandy. There are 37 absolutely gorgeous bridges that cross it and I was lucky enough to catch a view of a handful of them.

The Pont Du Carrousel is named after the Place Du Carrousel which is the name of the courtyard of the Louvre Museum. The word "carrousel"  comes from a type of military training and this bridge was used for that purpose by Louis XVI. It's an arch bridge which is completely different than the suspension bridges that were mostly being built during that time.

The mayor of Paris started building beaches in the Summertime for all the local to enjoy. They're only here for a couple of months and each of the beaches has evening concerts, kayak access and swimming pools suspended over the river.

This version of the Pont Des Invalides was rebuilt right before the World's Fair in 1855. The gold statues at the top of the end pillars and the military coat of arms in the middle is amazing to see.

The Pont Alexandre III is considered the most beautiful bridge in Paris by most everybody. It is absolutely the most extravagant and ornate and connects the Champs-Élysées quarter and the Invalides and Eiffel Tower quarter. This bridge was built to show off to the world how awesome and magnificent Paris was to everyone at the 1900 World's Fair. I've never seen anything like it in my life. The golden winged horses, the lamps, the view of the Grand Palais and the solid gold domed Les Invalides is extraordinary.

Here's me looking at all the extraordinary...

The view of the Eiffel Tower from the middle of the bridge is like an unreal post card. I couldn't even believe I was standing there.

 The Pont de l'Alma is a suspension bridge inaugurated by Napoleon in 1856. Although it has military themed statues on all sides, it is mainly used by locals as a gauge of the water level on the Seine. Very pretty nonetheless.

This bridge also turns into the  Pont de l'Alma tunnel where Princess Diana died in a car crash in 1997. There is a replica of our Statue of Liberty's flame at the north end of the bridge. It was originally a thank you from the United States to the French business men who paid for the restoration of our statue's flame back in 1989 but since Princess Diana's death it has become the unofficial memorial for her. The eternal flame sits just down the block from her actual place of impact.

The Pont Des Arts is the bridge connecting the Institut de France and the courtyard of the Louvre Museum.  Under the first empire, the Lourve was named the Palace of the Arts, which is where the bridge originally got its name. It used to be used for art exhibits and a unique point of view for painters and photographers of the city.  

Yes, but now there is a new fad. Tourist couples from all over the world have taken up the act of writing the names of each other on padlocks, snapping the lock shut forever on the rungs of the bridge and then throwing the key into the river as a symbol of everlasting and eternal love. Paris police don't really know how to handle the new tradition and they patrol the bridge to keep "pollution" out of the water but judging from the amount of metal attached to this bridge, they haven't had much with a solution.

Before I left for Paris, my little family put some love on our own lock. Kalynn wrote her name, Jason wrote all of our initials, I drew some hearts and Miss Guacamole gave it a big sloppy kiss. Eternal love for sure.

It was really special to me that I was included on leaving my personal mark during my short stay in this gorgeous city. Even the Paris police weren't going to stop me.

 So now that I know much more history of the Seine River, the bridges across it and the love and pain that surrounds it, I'm completely honored to forever be a part of it. Whether the Parisians like it or not.

 So there.