Today in history, exactly 446 years ago, construction began on Pont Neuf in Paris, France, when King Henry III laid its first cornerstone. I have an odd history with this bridge.
The first time I went to Paris, I made a point of walking all the bridges. Some of the bridges seemed relatively new, but it was obvious that Pont Neuf was a very old bridge — clearly older than all the others.
I made some assumptions based on the French I had learned in school. I assumed, given its name, that at the time of its construction Pont Neuf was the ninth bridge over the Seine.
Of course I wondered what had happened to the other eight bridges. And the entire idea of Pont Neuf being the ninth bridge seemed ironic to me, since it was now quite evidently the oldest bridge in Paris.
Eventually I took the time to do the proper research, and I realized that I had not even begun to understand the irony of the situation. From the French, as it was spoken in 1578, “Pont Neuf” actually translates to “New Bridge”.