Pont Neuf: Paris's Oldest "New Bridge"

The Pont Neuf is one of my favorite night-view spots in Paris. It was the first place I really saw the Seine after dark, and it hit me hard.

Visitors often say "Pont Neuf Bridge," but pont already means bridge in French, so that's really "New Bridge Bridge." If you know a little French, you may think of neuf as the number nine, but it also means "new." So the Pont Neuf is literally the New Bridge. The twist is that it is the oldest bridge in central Paris. There were earlier bridges, but they were lined with houses and used as places to live; the Pont Neuf was the first built purely for crossing the river. It has been standing for more than 400 years.

Even if you don't know any of that history, you may recognize the name thanks to a film: The Lovers on the Bridge (Les Amants du Pont-Neuf). Not many people have actually watched it, but plenty have heard the title. It sounds wildly romantic, yet the first five minutes are pretty grimy. They are there to establish the male lead, who is homeless, as is the heroine. It is a love story between two homeless people, and because the film depicts their lives so realistically, many scenes are gritty.

The story is set in 1989. As we mentioned at the Hôtel de Ville and Notre-Dame, the French Revolution broke out in 1789, so 1989 was exactly 200 years later. To commemorate the Revolution, France holds fireworks every year on Bastille Day, July 14, and still does so at the Eiffel Tower. For the bicentennial, Paris prepared in earnest, and even this old "new bridge" went into restoration. With the bridge closed for construction, homeless people gathered there. One of them, the male lead Alex, earned money by performing fire-eating shows on the bridge. One day he finds a woman in his spot: Michèle, a painter who has lost love and is gradually losing her sight. Alex, who had never given love a thought, falls for her, but Michèle loves someone else, and their feelings never line up. Then on July 14 an enormous fireworks display begins, and the two run across the unfinished Pont Neuf, dancing wildly against the bursts of light. Letting go of everything, they dance and laugh as if released from something. That night, while Michèle sleeps, Alex leaves her a note: "If there's someone you love, tell them tomorrow that the sky is white. If it's me, I'll answer that the clouds are black. Then we'll know we love each other." They do confirm their love, but as in most films, trouble follows. For the rest, you'll have to watch it.