A half a mile west is Paris’s oldest bridge, paradoxically named the Pont-Neuf, the “new bridge” at the tip of the Île de la Cité, and more or less the center point of the Seine’s course through the city. A 17th-century triumph of design and technology, it was the first bridge in Paris to be built entirely of stone and featured pedestrian walkways. It was built without the houses that lined earlier bridges and cluttered the views. In constructing it through and on both sides of the island, Henri IV created an intimate, permanent bond between Parisians and the lifeblood of their city, the Seine.

　　往西半英里是巴黎最古老的橋，矛盾的是，它的名字卻叫做“新橋”(Pont-Neuf)，它位于西岱島一端，差不多在塞納河流經(jīng)這座城市的中點(diǎn)。這座橋建于17世紀(jì)，堪稱設(shè)計(jì)與技術(shù)上的巨大成功，它是巴黎第一座完全由石頭建造的橋，兩側(cè)設(shè)有人行道，并且沒(méi)有早期橋梁上那些令周遭景色雜亂不堪的房屋。這座橋由亨利四世下令修建，將西岱島和左右兩岸連接起來(lái)，為巴黎人和城市的命脈塞納河建立了親密的永久性紐帶。

　　This bond still exists. Behind a statue of Henri IV on the bridge are staircases that descend two flights. They open out onto a spit of land at the westernmost tip of the Île de la Cité, the Square du Vert-Galant. Unlike most Paris parks, it is open to the public all night long. When the river is high, the branches of the weeping willow planted in cobblestones at the tip of the square caress the surface of the Seine. You can come close enough to reach out and touch the water.

　　這個(gè)紐帶至今仍在。橋上亨利四世雕像的后面有兩段下行的樓梯。它們通向西岱島最西端的一塊區(qū)域，即綠色戈蘭廣場(chǎng)。與大多數(shù)巴黎公園不同的是，它徹夜對(duì)公眾開(kāi)放。河水上漲時(shí)，廣場(chǎng)一側(cè)的鵝卵石堤岸邊，垂柳樹(shù)枝輕撫著塞納河水面。你可以走上前去，伸手觸摸河流。

　　A quarter mile to the west, at the Louvre, is the Pont des Arts, a wood-slatted, iron pedestrian bridge that links the museum to the Institut de France, home of the Académie Française, on the other side of the river. A magnet for picnickers, it was once the place couples proclaimed their love by attaching metal padlocks. But the spindly, fragile footbridge was too weak to bear the weight of all this love. The city of Paris lined the bridge barriers with lock-resistant Plexiglas, and couples moved east to the Pont Neuf, until its barriers were replaced with corrugated plastic. But the love locks still sprout on odd spaces — between barriers on bridges, on lampposts and on heavy iron mooring rings all along the river.

　　盧浮宮以西四分之一英里處是藝術(shù)橋(Pont des Arts)，這是一座鐵構(gòu)人行橋，橋面由木板鋪成，將盧浮宮與河對(duì)岸的法蘭西學(xué)會(huì)(Institut de France)連接起來(lái)。法蘭西學(xué)會(huì)是法蘭西學(xué)術(shù)院(Académie Française)的所在地。藝術(shù)橋曾是情侶們用金屬掛鎖來(lái)示愛(ài)的地方，也吸引著許多野餐者。但是這座人行橋細(xì)長(zhǎng)而又脆弱，承受不了那么多愛(ài)的重量。巴黎市在橋欄之間安裝了無(wú)法掛鎖的有機(jī)玻璃，情侶們只得向東遷移到新橋，直到那座橋的橋欄也裝上了波紋塑料。但是，愛(ài)之鎖仍然在一些奇怪的地方出現(xiàn)——橋上的柵欄之間，燈柱上，河邊的重鐵系舶環(huán)上。

　　Heading downstream, history buffs might like to walk over the Pont de la Concorde which joins the Place de la Concorde with the National Assembly. The bridge was built during the French Revolution using stones of the demolished Bastille, “so that the people could forever trample on the old fortress,” according to Rodolphe Perronet, the bridge’s engineer.

　　順流而下，歷史愛(ài)好者可能會(huì)走過(guò)協(xié)和橋(Pont de la Concorde)，它連接協(xié)和廣場(chǎng)和國(guó)民議會(huì)。這座橋是在法國(guó)大革命期間用拆毀的巴士底獄的石頭建造的，“這樣人們就可以永遠(yuǎn)踐踏這座古老的堡壘，”這座橋的工程師羅道夫·貝荷內(nèi)(Rodolphe Perronet)說(shuō)。

　　The most elegant bridge in Paris 巴黎最優(yōu)雅的橋

　　波伏娃橋是巴黎最新的一座橋，用于走行人。

　　Then comes the most elegant of Paris bridges: the Pont Alexandre III, a belle epoque confection linking the Invalides to the Champs-Élysées. Built for the Paris Exposition Universelle of 1900, it was named in honor of the father of the visiting Russian czar, Nicholas II. Sculptures of full-figured, bare-breasted nymphs look out at the river from their perches at the bridge’s center. Gilded candelabra, trumpet-blowing angels, lion-taming cherubs, dolphins, starfish, sea monsters and birds proclaim joy. Faust, a nightclub, sits underneath the bridge on the Left Bank.

　　接下來(lái)是巴黎最優(yōu)雅的橋：亞歷山大三世橋(Pont Alexandre III)，它連接著榮軍院和香榭麗舍大道，是“美好時(shí)代”(belle epoque)遺留下來(lái)的精品。它是為1900年的巴黎博覽會(huì)建造的，以來(lái)訪的俄國(guó)沙皇尼古拉二世(Nicholas II)的父親命名。真人大小的裸胸女神雕像棲居在橋梁中心俯瞰河流。鍍金燭臺(tái)、吹號(hào)天使、馴服獅子的小天使、海豚、海星、海怪和鳥(niǎo)類的雕像無(wú)不是歡樂(lè)的象征。左岸一側(cè)的橋下有一家名叫“浮士德”的夜總會(huì)。

　　The Pont Alexandre III is so emblematic of Paris that when mayor Anne Hidalgo led a campaign to promote her city as the site for the 2024 Summer Olympics, she built a 12-meter diving board on the bridge and a floating running track alongside it to stage a show of Olympic sporting events. The Eiffel Tower was strategically visible in the background for the perfect photo frame.

　　亞歷山大三世橋堪稱巴黎的象征，為巴黎申辦2024年夏季奧運(yùn)會(huì)主辦城市時(shí)，市長(zhǎng)安娜·伊達(dá)爾戈(Anne Hidalgo)在這座橋上建了一座12米跳臺(tái)，旁邊是一個(gè)浮動(dòng)跑道，展示奧運(yùn)體育賽事。站在橋上，埃菲爾鐵塔在背景中非常醒目，可以拍出完美的照片。

　　The city of Paris also spends millions of dollars every year to light up its river banks, and at night, the bridges look like bright necklaces strung across the river. They show off the two schools of lighting: the Paris school, which bathes its subjects in warm, even light, and the Lyon school, which uses small spotlights to highlight details for dramatic effect. The decorations of Pont Alexandre III are lit with the pointillism of the Lyon school. So are the arches and hanging lamps of the Pont de Bercy, the high-relief sculptures on the Pont d’Austerlitz, and the medallions on the N monograms, in honor of Napoléon III, on the Pont au Change.

　　巴黎每年花費(fèi)數(shù)百萬(wàn)美元為河岸照明，夜晚，這些橋看起來(lái)就像串在河上的明亮項(xiàng)鏈。它們展示了兩種照明風(fēng)格：巴黎派和里昂派，前者讓對(duì)象沐浴在溫暖、均勻的光線之中;后者則使用小聚光燈突出細(xì)節(jié)，達(dá)到戲劇性的效果。亞歷山大三世橋上的裝飾采用里昂派的點(diǎn)彩風(fēng)格照明。貝西橋(Pont de Bercy)上的拱門(mén)和懸燈、奧斯特里茨橋(Pont d’Austerlitz)上的高浮雕雕塑、兌換橋(Pont au Change)上紀(jì)念拿破侖三世(Napoleon III)的N字母圓雕飾也都是如此。

　　Gary Zuercher, a retired businessman and a lifelong photographer, was so passionate about the way the bridges look at night that he spent more than five years photographing them in black and white for a 190-page coffee-table book, “The Glow of Paris.” Because Paris isn’t fully dark in the summer months until about 11 p.m., he did most of his work during the winter. “I wanted to present the majesty of the Paris bridges in their most alluring setting,” he said. “Nighttime.”

　　退休商人、畢生從事攝影的加里·祖爾希(Gary Zuercher)熱愛(ài)這些橋梁在夜晚的樣子，他花了五年多的時(shí)間拍攝這些橋的黑白照片，收集為190頁(yè)的畫(huà)冊(cè)《巴黎的光輝》(The Glow of Paris)。因?yàn)樵谙奶斓膸讉�(gè)月里，巴黎要到晚上11點(diǎn)左右才會(huì)完全黑下來(lái)，他的大部分作品都是在冬天拍攝的�！拔蚁朐谧蠲匀说谋尘跋抡宫F(xiàn)巴黎大橋的雄偉壯觀，”他說(shuō)�！澳蔷褪且雇��！�

　　By day, tourist boat rides on the Seine are interesting, of course, but at night, they become voyages of discovery. I take visitors on the Vedettes de Paris, a small bateau-mouche, because if we arrive early enough, we can nab a spot in the front of an upper deck. When the boat passes under the bridges, we can see how the lighting from underneath reveals the curves and angles of their underbellies.

　　白天在塞納河上乘坐游船當(dāng)然很有趣，但到了晚上，乘船游河就成了探索之旅。我?guī)ьI(lǐng)游客們搭乘巴黎觀光船(Vedettes de Paris)，這是一艘小型觀光船，如果到得足夠早，就能在上層甲板的前面占個(gè)位子。當(dāng)船從橋下經(jīng)過(guò)時(shí)，可以看到橋下的燈光會(huì)將橋梁下方的曲線和角度展現(xiàn)出來(lái)。

　　Tour guides on the bateaux-mouches will tell you that the Pont Marie is the lovers’ bridge. The story goes that if you make a wish as the boat slips under the bridge and keep the wish secret, it will be granted. One summer night, I took two female college students for a boat ride. As we approached the bridge, a recording announced: “If you’re with the person you love, kiss him or her under the bridge, make a wish, and your wish will come true.” One of the students closed her eyes and made a wish, even though her boyfriend was an ocean away.

　　觀光船上的導(dǎo)游會(huì)告訴你，瑪麗橋(Pont Marie)是一座戀人之橋。傳說(shuō)如果你在船從橋下行駛而過(guò)的時(shí)候許個(gè)愿，并且不告訴別人，這個(gè)愿望就會(huì)實(shí)現(xiàn)。一個(gè)夏天的晚上，我?guī)е鴥蓚�(gè)女大學(xué)生乘坐觀光船游覽。當(dāng)我們接近大橋時(shí)，船上的錄音宣布：“如果你和愛(ài)人在一起，在橋下親吻他或她，再許個(gè)愿，你的愿望就會(huì)實(shí)現(xiàn)�！逼渲幸粋�(gè)學(xué)生閉上眼睛許了個(gè)愿，盡管她的男友遠(yuǎn)隔重洋。