Anyhow, I'm in the middle of reading (very slowly) Métronome by Lorànt Deutsch; it's a fascinating history of Paris that goes from Métro stop to Métro stop and spans a few thousand years. Interestingly, he addresses the name of Pont-Neuf! Let me translate the last paragraph there for ya...
"Our four current bridges are reconstructions from the 19th century, and be aware that Pont-Neuf, finished in 1607, is not the ninth bridge in Paris but the fifth, and it's not the newest but the oldest, you follow?"Uh, maybe I don't follow; I still don't know why it's called Pont-Neuf! However, I just thought to try Wikipedia, and it's confirmed: the neuf means new, as it was the newest bridge at the time it was built. Whoa, wait a second, isn't every bridge the newest one at the time it was built? Oh man, now I'm even more confused...
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