No Love Locks™ was founded in January 2014 by two friends—both named Lisa—who have chosen to call Paris home, and who have become increasingly concerned about the damage being caused by the hundreds of thousands of heavy locks being attached to several of the city’s historic bridges, and the over one million keys polluting the Seine River in Paris.

Lisa Anselmo, is an author and coach, as well as a creative director specializing in brand building for publishing. Her memoir based on her blog, My (Part-time) Paris Life, is published by Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin’s Press. After years of regular visits to Paris, Lisa decided to put down more permanent roots in her “other” city after the death of her mother from breast cancer. Paris, for her, was a place of healing and joy. After seeing the state of the Pont de l’Archevêché in late 2013, surprised at the decay from thousands of “love locks” thoughtlessly vandalizing the beauty of her favorite city, she blogged about the “love locks” problem in a humorous post, “Dear Tourists, Please Unlock Your Love,” that went viral with over 3000 page views on one day—proving others felt this trend was a harmful practice. Shortly after, she co-founded No Love Locks with Lisa Taylor Huff in an effort to bring awareness to the problem and find a solution to preserve the beauty and history of Paris. She calls this fight to preserve the heritage and beauty of the city “the ultimate love letter to Paris.”

Lisa Taylor Huff, who sadly passed away in July 2015, was a freelance writer from NJ, who had been living in Paris since 2006 and had dual US-French citizenship. Lisa was a memoirist, a Paris expat blogger and travel writer; she had also ghostwritten several books, and in 2006 published “The Writing Coach’s Guide to FINALLY Writing Your Book!” (iUniverse 2007). She just completed a memoir inspired by her 10-year-old blog, The Bold Soul, about how she decided to boldly change her life and move to Paris at the age of 45, where she found the life and love she always wanted. Lisa met her French husband, Georges, in Paris in 2007. Lisa described why she decided to partner with long-time friend Lisa Anselmo to co-found No Love Locks: “Georges and I spent our first Valentine’s Day together having a picnic on the Pont des Arts in 2008, just before there were any locks, and we were married later that year. My connection to the Pont des Arts runs very deep, dating back to my first visit to Paris in 1998, and leading up that first romantic picnic with Georges. It was once my favorite view of Paris, but the vandalism caused by too many locks and disrespectful tourists have destroyed both the view and my memories. So for me, the No Love Locks campaign is very personal, both for myself as a Parisian and for my three French step-children; after all, these historic bridges and beautiful city center are their cultural heritage.”

Our Mission:

To educate the public about the negative effects of placing locks on public spaces and fragile historic structures To research and suggest less destructive (and more original) ways for lovers and others to commemorate special moments—because we still believe in celebrating love and life To support, wherever feasible, the efforts of city administrators—in Paris and elsewhere—in finding solutions for the removal and prevention of “love locks,” and to promote any legislation that would ban or restrict this act of vandalism To promote responsible tourism and educate visitors to Paris and other cities on the importance of respecting the heritage and culture of other peoples

On March 9, 2014, with upcoming Mayoral and City Council elections, No Love Locks launched a petition to encourage others to support a citywide “love locks” ban in Paris. You don’t need to be French or live in Paris to have your voice heard. Sign today and share it with your social network around the world! The petition is available in the following languages: English | Français

While our efforts are mainly focused on protecting the architectural heritage of Paris, we welcome input and dialogue with other cities that have been trying to cope with this problem. We also welcome your comments and suggestions about ways in which we can turn this trend around and reclaim the historic bridges and beautiful river views that have been lost due to “love locks.”

Follow us on Facebook for more up-to-date news, and to find out how you can help us spread the message and remove the locks.

Join our movement, and help to free our historic bridges and beautiful public spaces from the weight of all that “love.”

Lisa and Lisa