Loving the bridges of Paris to death?

At first it seems so romantic … holding hands, sharing a kiss, pledging love together on one of Paris’ lovely bridges, writing your initials on a little brass lock, securing this seemingly harmless token to the bridge, then tossing the key into the Seine River below.

If this just happened only rarely it might not be a problem.  But trends catch on quickly in the most visited city in the world and now possibly millions of little locks are weighing down the bridges, becoming an eyesore to local Parisians, and spreading to other structures, causing damage.  What’s a city to do?

Subject right now of much debate, Paris city hall is struggling to find an answer.  The tourist office wants visitors to love the city (there has even been a recent campaign to instruct those in the tourist service industry how to be nicer), but not love it to death.  (Here’s one recent article.)

Before the locks are banned and photos of lock-laden bridges become history (my prediction), here is my 17-syllable ode to the practice, born of good intentions, but proof that you really can have too much of a good thing: