La Defense, the skyscraper district

Posted 7/2/2014

(As I mentioned in my previous post, I'm no longer Over There, but I'm adding a few posts covering some further highlights of my trip.)

When the Tour Montparnasse was constructed in 1973, people were so distressed by its effect on Parisian skylines that skyscrapers were henceforth not permitted within the city limits (i.e. inside the Boulevard Peripherique).  The primary skyscraper-containing business district in the Paris metropolitan area is La Defense, which is west of the city.  The district is named after a statue, La Défense de Paris, which is a memorial to soldiers who died in the Franco-Prussian War.  I managed never to see this statue when I visited the area (at the suggestion of my friend Marilynd, after she had returned to the US).  The first thing I saw when I climbed up out of the bus/Metro station* was THIS:


It's an enormous office building! called La Grande Arche de la Defense.  According to my guide book, Notre Dame could fit underneath it.

It is appropriately in line with the Arc de Triomphe de l'Etoile (what is generally known simply as the Arc de Triomphe) and the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel (at the Louvre).

The structure inside is designed to reduce the wind-tunnel effect through the building.  Here is a shot looking up from underneath it:

cool!
 and another shot of the building:


Behind the building is this odd little plaza, a wooded area, and the farther western suburbs... (and more construction!).


In this view facing back towards the city, the building to the left is the Centre des nouvelles industries et technologies (CNIT), which is the "the largest unsupported concrete span enclosed space in the world"

(Wikipedia-- which also provides this more complete view):



If you look closely in the top photo, you can see the Arc de Triomphe de l'Etoile waaaay in the distance.

There is some impressive public art in the area-- below is L'araignée rouge (The Red Spider) by Alexander Calder.


At first I assumed that this striped structure was a building, but in view of the lack of windows, it seems more likely that it is also public art:


Another skyscraper in the general vicinity:


Below is the Tour First, the tallest occupied building in the Paris metropolitan area -- taller than the Tour Montparnasse.  (It is not as tall as the Tour Eiffel, no no no.)


I walked back in the direction of the Arc de Triomphe and crossed the Seine.  I believe that this is looking towards a rather well-off area, the town of Neuilly, just a ways north of the Bois de Boulogne.


The Neuilly Metro station did have this nice fountain nearby:


and masses of hydrangeas (this is just a sampling).


I took the Metro at Neuilly, but rather than take it all the way to my transfer station, I got off at Etoile.  It was the 70th anniversary of D-Day, and a huge French flag was flying at the Arc de Triomphe:


(It was while I was taking this photo that someone tried the "found ring" scam on me.  That didn't last long.)

Another side note:  I was talking about the D-Day anniversary with Claire (my landlady) later (while she was driving me to the airport shuttle), and I said I understood that it was called "Jour J" there.  She shook her head and said "D Day" -- rather emphatically!  Interesting.  Perhaps to give credit to the Americans and Brits who landed on the beach...


*A logistical note:  La Defense is in Zone 3 of the Metro system, but you can still get there using a standard Metro ticket.  Technically, these cover just Zones 1-2, but you can always ride to the end of the Metro line you're on, even if it's in Zone 3.  I was on the bus, so the same rule must apply there.




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