parisian party

In searching for ideas for my Paris Valentine’s Day Gift Wish List posts, I was surprised by the large number of anti-Valentine’s day blogs and websites there are out there. While I totally appreciate the darker side of some of the humor (like the “return my cd’s” candy hearts) a lot of it seemed to cross the line into a weird, bitter anger.  Sure, I’ve been single on Valentine’s day, and yup, it did kind of stink. But I’ve been single on Arbor Day, too- should I start some sort of Anti-Tree Meet-Up group? I think not…

Most in the anti-Valentine’s Day camp seem to be more against the “gift-buying” aspect than the “day of recognition” aspect of the holiday, and I guess if I wasn’t such a lover-of-gifts, I’d probably agree . Before he met me, my hubby was most definitely in the “other” camp, but he’s known that I’m a lover of gifts since the day we met (I think I wrote it next to my phone number on the cocktail napkin that I slipped him that fateful night…) so, in solidarity to me, he’s sheepishly slipped on over to the other side.

Hubby also knows that I’m a sucker for a schmaltzy scenario-  messages in a bottle, serenades, coins in a fountain and all that. So, this Sunday, in addition to exchanging les petits cadeaux de Saint Valentin, we’ll also take a romantic stroll through Paris, stopping on the Pont des Arts (hopefully at sunset) like so many hundreds of Parisian lovers before us, to attach a strong padlock engraved with our names and a few mots doux to the side of the bridge. After which we’ll throw the key into the Seine, and leave the lock behind as a symbol of the strength of of our everlasting love (awww….). Now if that isn’t the most perfect Valentine’s Day gift in Paris, I don’t know what is. Bonne Fête de Saint Valentin, tout le monde!

all photos © flickr: padlocks of the pont des arts paris pool