Love – Amour – Amore

Valentine’s Day is coming up on Wednesday and no matter how you say it, romance is on the mind of lovers everywhere. Tributes to the greatest of human emotions can be found in many places but the most lovely I’ve seen are in the middle of an Italian lake or on a Côte d’Azur hilltop. Here are five special testaments to the power of love.

Invitation, Monaco

1.  Paris, France

The Pont des Arts has become a Parisian landmark where lovers secure a padlock marked with their names onto the railings of the bridge and then toss the key into the churning waters of the Seine. City officials began removing them when the weight of  the locks began to endanger the structural integrity of the railings but it seems that love conquers all – even French bureaucracy – as more locks continue to appear on the “love locks bridge” of Paris.

Pont des Arts, the Love Locks Bridge of Paris

The tradition has spread to other sites around the world like the Accademia Bridge in Venice.

Accademia Bridge, Venice

2.  Isola Bella, Italy

This magical island in northern Italy was created from barren rock by Vitaliano Borromeo VI for his beloved wife, Isabella. The baroque palazzo is surrounded by the blue waters of Lake Maggiore, in the shadow of the mighty Swiss Alps. Chinese white peacocks roam a series of terraced gardens, and of course there’s a Garden of Love.

Isola Bella, Lake Maggiore

The Terraced Gardens of Isola Bella

Chinese White Peacock

Garden of Love

3.  Cap Ferrat, France

Not far away in neighbouring France is the Temple of Love, perched on a hilltop overlooking the villa and gardens of Baroness Béatrice Ephrussi de Rothschild. The folly  gives shelter to Venus, the mythical Goddess of Love.

Temple of Love, Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild

Venus, the Goddess of Love

Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild, Cap Ferrat

4.  Lyme Regis, England

Love can sometimes be painful, as witnessed by The French Lieutenant’s Woman in the novel by John Fowler. Sarah Woodruff was often seen gazing out to sea from the Cobb in Lyme Regis, longing for the return of her French lover.

Lyme Regis, Dorset

The Cobb

5.  Verona, Italy

And sometimes love is tragic, as it was for Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeare’s fictitious star-crossed lovers still inspire romantics today at Casa di Giulietta in Verona where visitors leave messages to Juliet on a graffiti wall, wish for luck in love by rubbing her statue’s right breast, and purchase love locks from the gift shop.

Statue of Juliet, Verona

Graffiti Wall

Love Locks at Casa di Giulietta

Happy Valentine’s Day!