Not only was the Pont des Arts blighted by them, but so too were close on a dozen other pedestrian bridges. The city authorities had the bright idea of filling in the interstices on the railings of these bridges with panels but that didn't turn out to be such a good idea after all, as the panels merely gave a wave of graffiti artists plenty of space on which to work. So now, at long last, work has begun on tearing off the love locks and returning the bridges to their pristine state. What had started as something of a novelty merely became an utterly stupid mass fad.
French authorities have taken another positive step in the interests of good health, banning smoking in children' s playgrounds. Many people in France have long embraced the evils of smoking and too much drinking, so perhaps at long last, healthy living may become the norm. Who knows, French chefs may even discover the virtues of vegetarianism, long after the rest of the world.
Meanwhile, the usual chaos and mayhem was to be found in various places in France over the past few days. In the boulevard de Sebastapol in eastern Paris early the other morning, two policemen, who were drunk on duty, managed to run down and kill a delivery driver. The two cops subsequently ended up in custody. Then in St Raphael in Provence the other day, an elderly woman was killed when she crossed the road behind a lorry that was reversing; the lorry driver wasn't aware of her presence, with fatal results. Lorry drivers have a lot to answer for; just look at the horrendous toll of cyclists killed by trucks in London over the past year or two. And it's strange that while lorry owners are so reluctant to install the necessary safety measures, like extra mirrors, that could halt such tragedies, regulatory authorities, like the EU Commission, have been equally slow to step up to the mark.
As far as ' ordinary' crime goes, it seems that the much publicised pickpocket gangs operating on and around the Eiffel Tower in Paris have really been cleaning up. One of those gangs was arrested the other day and it turned out that each individual member was raking in around EUR 4, 000 a day, an extraordinary amount of money. To earn that amount of money honestly, you' d have to work in an industry like banking and we all know what the public perception is of bankers' honesty and fair dealings.
There was also an even more bizarre case in Paris the other day, when a woman who treated her live- in lover as a slave and forced him to eat sponges and drink bleach, was ordered to pay him EUR200, 000 in damages. The man in question published a book earlier this year about his experiences, Ma Compagne. Mon Bourreau. My partner. My torturer. Last year, some 100, 000 men in France were said to have been victims of domestic violence.
A much stringent case of damages arose from the case against three men accused of abusing the mental frailty of 92 year old Liliane Bettencourt, who owns much of the L' Oréal empire. Her fortune is worth an estimated EUR45 billion! A Paris society photographer was found guilty, along with Ms Bettencourt' s financial manager and a lawyer. The photographer was given a 30 month jail sentence and ordered to pay Ms Bettencourt over EUR100 million in damages. Around 18 months ago, Nicolas Sarkozy, a former French president, escaped from this legal quagmire when potential charges against him were dropped.
Another investigation could benefit many tourists in France. The Autorité de la Concurrence, which investigates potential charges of monopoly, has opened up a can of worms involving six leading car hire companies, including Avis, Europcar, Hertz and Sixt, claiming suspicions that they had colluded in price fixing at airports and railway stations in France.
In yet another dramatic legal turn of events, Jean- Marie Le Pen, who founded the Front National 40 years and which is now run by his daughter Marine, has opened dramatic legal proceedings against the party. He is now seeking redress for his recent expulsion. The Front National is now also calling for a referendum on whether voters in France want to stay in the EU, very similar in fact to the planned referendum on the UK' s continued membership of the EU. But at the same time, the Front National' s funding and other close ties with Russia are coming under increasing scrutiny.
Also on the political front, the more than 200, 000 members of the UMP centre right party have voted substantially in favour of its new name, Les Républicains. Some 83 per cent of members voted for the change. But the party, led by Nicolas Sarkozy, is mired in debts of EUR74 million and Sarkozy himself is uncertain of remaining in charge of the party. His recent performance during a trip to Le Havre, less than 200 km from Paris, did him no favours. He could have returned to Paris in a couple of hours by train at a cost of EUR35, but instead, spent EUR3, 450 chartering a private jet. He also hired a limousine to travel from Paris in order to pick him up in Le Havre and deliver him to the local aerodrome.
Such arrogant and elitist behaviour has been all too common at FIFA, the world governing body of football, and we know what the consequences have been there, including the dramatic resignation of newly elected president Sepp Blatter.
But also on state matters in France, it looks as if the deal between France and Russia to build two helicopter carrying warships is now dead in the water. Russia, it seems, is now going to build to similar naval ships itself, while France is going to be left with two completed warships that would be very surplus to its own requirements. In the meantime, there's every sign that Russia is building up towards a serious offensive in eastern Ukraine during the summer months. And there's increasing evidence that the Malaysian Airlines plane shot down over eastern Ukraine last July was downed by a Russian- supplied missile, fired by Russian- backed rebels. Recent attempts by the Russians to post evidence on the Internet that in fact the missile came from the Ukrainian side have proved farcical, as so many errors emerged in the so- called 'evidence' from Russia.
Also on the political front, alarm was caused recently when one of the bodyguards of President Hollande accidentally discharged his gun, without causing any injuries. It's a good while ago, 116 years to be precise, since a president last died in the Elysée Palace. In 1899, president Félix Faure had a seizure during an afternoon tryst with a female partner. Later, Clemenceau, who became a noted political figure, said that Faure had wanted to become another César, but had ended up as Pompey. This was also a pun on the French word pomper, or fellate.
In the past few days, Hollande' s official duties have included the state visit to France of King Felipe VI of Spain. The Spanish king had just arrived in France on a similar visit two months ago when the Germanwings air crash happened in the French Alps and that state visit had to be abruptly abandoned.
On a more cheerful note, one of the most spectacular of all Impressionist paintings is due to be sold by auction in Paris later this month, on the 24th. The Monet painting of the Folies- Bergere is one of the defining pieces of Impressionism and could fetch EUR25 million, possibly much more.
Another recent casualty in France was John Kerry, the US Secretary of State. He had been in Geneva for the Iranian nuclear talks, but last weekend, took time off to indulge his favourite sport of cycling. Near the town of Scionzier, in the French Alps, south of Geneva, he managed to hit a kerb and he fell off, fracturing his right leg. His injury has now been treated at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and he is expected to make a full recovery, indeed to be walking again today. But local cyclists in the area where the accident happened had been warning that there was so much loose gravel on the road that conditions were very dangerous. Yet it's amazing the American entourage failed to pick up on those dangerous conditions.
A former politician who' s in a bad way is 86 year old Helmut Kohl, a former German chancellor, who played a big part in reuniting the two former states in Germany, east and west. In recent years, he has also been a stern critic of current chancellor Angela Merkel, saying that her austerity policies are all wrong. But today, Kohl is in a critical condition in a clinic in Heidelberg after an intestinal operation that followed hip replacement surgery. In the UK, a former politician, Charles Kennedy from Scotland, has died at the young age of 55; he had been suffering from alcoholism and also lost his Westminster seat for the North- West of Scotland in the recent British general election. Now that he has gone, praise is fulsome for his astute political sense and his leadership of the Lib Dems. Such praise was much less evident during his lifetime.
Also in Britain, recently announced defence cuts in Britain amount to £1 billion, despite the growing threat from Russia. And with a growing disenchantment with the EU, I' ve thought of an ideal backdrop for a photo of David Cameron, the British prime minister. He should drop in to Dublin, where there' s a street in the markets area called Little Britain Street.
A former British prime minister, Tony Blair, certainly got a bollocking from the London Independent, although that' s nothing new. When news emerged last week that Blair was giving up his eight year long stint at Middle East envoy, provoking much derision among Palestinian sources for his lack of effectiveness, the London Independent ran a headline asking why a war criminal should have been appointed a peace envoy in the first place. One of Blair' s admitted triumphs, the 1998 peace agreement in Northern Ireland, is coming perilously close to coming unstuck. Severe doubts remain as to whether the power sharing executive in Belfast is going to survive.
But perhaps a lady in Devon has the right idea. She has just celebrated her 103rd birthday and when asked for the secret of her longevity, she put it down to never having watched television. She said that she has always been much too busy running her animal rescue centre to bother with TV.
On the international front, another heroine is coming under fire. Aung San Suu Kyi has long been praised for her efforts to bring democracy to her native Burma, now usually called Myanmar. No- one can fault her for that, but for many years, the Muslim minority in Burma has been sorely abused. In recent months, many of this minority have taken to the high seas in an attempt to find asylum elsewhere. Yet the continued persecution of the Muslim minority in Burma hasn’t elicited a peep out of Aung San Suu Kyi, a remarkable silence in the face of so much oppression.
The big news on the international front is whether or not Greece is going to make the EUR300 million repayment due to its international creditors this Friday. Perhaps at this late stage, a deal might be struck, but on the other hand, a vast mural in Athens showing the death of the euro might be all too prophetic.