La Défense, Paris

The trip to the "island" of La Defense is several kilometers long, and somewhat boring. The monotony is broken in Porte Maillot with an ugly but simultaneously appealing building.

A simulated odd door brakes a blind and flat facade, giving some expression to the whole. After the long minutes searching your guides to discover what the hell is that pavilion, you will be arriving to La Defense or Étoile, which means back to tourism.

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Developed in the 1960's as a business district, la Défense came back to light after the construction of la Grande Arche in 1990. La Défense is officially located outside the city of Paris and completes the axis that runs from le Louvre and through l'Arc de Triomphe. Ambitious building projects continue to be built in what has become one of Europe's biggest business districts. Apart from la Grande Arche, the stunning Mitterand-era cube, there is little for tourists to see, as most of the district is dedicated to businesses.

I was nearly not going to go to la Defense but so glad I did in the end. The architecture here is stunning - tower blocks to the sky each with their own character. The artwork inside the Grande Arche is weird to say the least but the view from the top is incredible. Definitely worth the metro trip!

The French seem to have a passionate need to put a piece of art in any open space that they come across.

the business district of La Defense is no exception, with the main concourse between the Esplanade metro station and the Grande Arch proving to be a perfect setting for the deranged outpourings of an array of modern artists.

The Miro of two giant humanoid type figures (well if you have a warped mind , perhaps) is perhaps the most important, but there are plenty of others which may take your fancy. I especially like the group of figures around the Esplanade station, that also has a couple more casting a rather weird eye of you as you enter the Line 1 platform heading towards the centre. I also liked the pond in the same area which affords a great view along the main 'axis' of Paris, through the Arc d'triomphe to the Lourve in the distance.

Nearer the arch you will find a more traditional scuplutre that shows the manning of a the barricades in the real 'defense' of the city in the Franco Prussian war. It is this statue that has given the are it's name when it began to take shape in the 1960's. At least the sixties architecture is stuck out here, rather than along the Champs-elysee as Le Corbusier had envisaged.

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Where the Louvre is the place to be in Paris if you love old art, La Defense is the same for modern art-lovers. Both modern architecture and modern art visible here. This tip is about some beautiful pieces of art in the centre of La Defense:

One of the most colourful pieces of art is definitely the fantasy-sculptures of Joan Miro, at the central square in from of the Grande Arche. The red-blue-yellow-white and black shapes suggest that only childish fantasy can bring life into a concrete desert like La Defense.

A bit further to the centre of Paris, away from the Grande Arche, you?ll find a wonderful fountain made by Yaacov Agam. It?s very colourful, and if there is water inside, it moves to the rhythm of music.

There also is a steel construction called Stabile l?Araignee, made by the American artist Calder. It?s a huge red, heavy construction that indicates that there is still contact with the earth, although all the high building only move away from the earth. The bows in this construction show the bond with Mother earth.

And then, at the beginning of La Defense, all the way to the centre, and at the end, behind the Grande Arche, there are two identical pieces of art: two ponds with lots of metal pillar with flashlights attached. It shows the ends of the peaceful, traffic-free area of La Defense, and the beginning of the loud world of heavy traffic, airports and metro-stations. The water under the pillars shows the peacefulness of La Defense.

Came across this quite impressive 'coffee table' type book recently. Paris, despite being one of the finest looking cities in the world has always had a reputation of embracing the 'new'. After all, it's most famous structure was years ahead of it's time when it was erected.

This book vistis the obvious modern choices of Grand Projets like the Grande Arch at La Defence, Mitterrand's Library and the silly pyramids at the Lourve, but also looks at some of the more out of the way places. A fascinating insight.

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Lots of people probably won´t even see this statue, but for me it was big fun. Walking from the Grande Arche towards metrostation Esplanade de la Défense (line 1), I was amazed by this wonderful statue of Mister Frog.

I´m a big frog lover, even though they are made out of bronze and 2 metres high. This one even has a tiny little frog in its mouth too.

Haha, just loved it :D

When I was in Paris, my house was near La Defénse and on my first day I went there for a brief visit.
It's a modern place, different from the "classic Paris" but I think it's interesting and the gorgeous open-spaces are very good to rest or walk around.
Curiosity: L' Arc du Triomphe and L'Arc de La Defénse are clearly alligned.