La Défense
While in Paris, go visit the Défense neighborhood, Europe’s biggest business district. Discover this area’s unique architecture, with the Grande Arche, which, imagined by the Danish architect Johan Otto von Spreckelsen, majestically enthrones the axis which connects the Jardin des Tuileries and the Arc de Triomphe.
The neighborhood owes its name to the statue “La Défense de Paris” sculpted by Louis-Ernest Barrias, inaugurated on October 12, 1883 in the center of the Courbevoie round-about, which commemorates the resistance of the Parisians and honors the memory of the victims of the siege of Paris during the Franco-Prussian war of 1870.
The La Défense neighborhood is serviced by a network of public transportation: the metro, the RER, the Tram, the Transilien and 16 bus lines.
In addition to the Grande Arche, the neighborhood is dotted with 69 works of art that make La Défense an open-air museum. There is, of course, the La Défense de Paris sculpture by Barrias, which gave the neighborhood its name. But you can also see other impressive work such as Alexander Calder’s Red Spider, which can be found across from Miro’s fantastic characters. Also well known is Le Pouce de César (Caeser’s Thumb), Yaacov Agam’s monumental fountain, and the Bassin de Takis, a nice water hole in a mineral environment.
The La Défense district has shopping centers and first-rate hotels including two five-star hotels, seven four-star hotels and many quality 3-star hotels. The restaurant selection is also impressive. From gourmet restaurants to fast food chains to good cheap restaurants, the choice is vast.
