The I Love You Wall

Ah, Paris! City of eternal love, romanticism and passionate declarations! The proof is the superb Pont des Arts, where lovers come by their thousands to seal their love with a padlock, throwing the keys into the Seine…

For Frédéric Baron, a dreamer who, inspired by Phileas Fogg, wanted to go around the world in 80 ‘I love yous’, Paris was the ideal city! This is how the superb, unique artwork in Paris’ Square Jehan Rictus was born, I Love You: The Wall. ‘How did he do it?’ we hear you ask. Simply by asking his brother, then his neighbour, then a friend, a friend of a friend and so on (all different nationalities) to write this well-known phrase for him. He then asked the artist Claire Kito, who practises far eastern calligraphy, to assemble all the pieces of writing. They finally came up with the idea together of creating a wall, which was built on a surface of more than 430ft² and using 621 lava tiles by the muralist Daniel Boulogne.

Now more than 1500 declarations of love in every language line the wall: English, French, Chinese, Corsican, Navajo, Esperanto… So many different languages and dialects, but which when brought together symbolise cohesion. Because Frédéric Baron wanted to use this idea to etch in people’s minds this symbol of a world united, reconciled and at peace! The ‘I Love You’ wall has been set up in Paris, in Montmartre in the Square Jehan Rictus, Place des Abbesses.

You can go to the official website for a virtual tour, but don’t think twice about going to see it in person, it is well worth it! www.lesjetaime.com