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We ee from the park onto the Cours la Reine, and follow that street for a while before crossing at the avenue Winston Churchill That road goes to the Seine, and turns into the Pont Alexandre III

“Are we crossing?”

Damien shakes his head “We can take the stairs down and walk along the water for a while or stay on street level and check out sohts We’ll pass the Louvre in a few more blocks”

“Can we go in?”

“We can,” he says, then kisses enda But there’s someplace else I want to take you first You still okay alking? We can catch a cab”

“I’ I enjoyin a new city with Damien

We stay on the street level until we’ve passed the Place de la Concorde and I’ve oohed and aahed over the Obelisk and taken a dozenthe Seine until we reach the Pont des Arts We head back up the stairs, begin to cross the bridge, and then I stop, confused by the odd appearance of the bridge’s railing

“What’s that—locks?” I’ve stepped to the side, and Damien is besideat is in fact a collection of padlocks that are attached to the bridge railing like barnacles

I tilt my head to look up at Damien “What on earth?”

“This is the bridge for lovers,” he says “You’ve never heard of it?”

I shake e, not able to fathoe their devotion

“They come They write their nae, and they throw the key into the Seine”

“For luck?” I ask, and he nods

“Is that why you’ve brought me here?”

“It is,” he says, and those tords warm my heart “But I want to switch it up just a little”

I frown a bit, confused, but nod

“Not too long ago, part of the bridge fell off—it collapsed under the weight of the locks”

My eyes widen “Love is a heavy burden,” I quip, then immediately frown “Was anyone hurt?”

“No, but even so I thought we could start our own tradition Carry our oeight, you ht say”

I cockas I wait for him to explain

He draws a small box from his pocket, then opens it to reveal a silver charm in the shape of a lock I pick it up, and see that it has our na the velvet to reveal the tiny key “It’s for you, froht we could throw the key into the river”