So Vicki and I have been to Paris we don't know how many times, and we had never visited La Defense, the now-50-year-old "New Paris" across a bend in the river, the world's largest purpose-built business center. I guess we had always thought it wasn't the "real" Paris. Niece Stacey had read some things that led her to want to see it, and Tuesday morning we all took the #1 Metro from Nation all the way out to La Defense. We're glad we did. The #1 Metro is automated, and you can stand right where the driver would be and watch the train wend its way all through its Paris underground. Cool. (I'll post a video here later.) But it was La Defense itself that was stunning, almost overwhelming...mostly the architecture and sculpture. Yes, you should see Note Dame, and the Arch of Triumph, and the Eiffel Tower, and the Louvre, etc., but do make time to whisk yourself out to La Defense and see what the architects and builders of your own day have done. The main feature is the Grand Arch, finished for the bicentennial in 1989, but there is plenty else to look at. The pix will have to speak for themselves...
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| The Grand Arch, actually a huge office building and gathering place |
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| Closer up |
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| Under the arch...elevators |
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| Looking down the huge mall...in the distance, central Paris, and the other Arch |
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| Shopping malls |
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| Ditto |
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| Panning around at all the buildings... |
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| Tidying up the roof over one of the shopping malls |
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Inside said mall; we spent a lot of time at the Decathlon, biggest if not best of
all the outdoors stores here (sorry, REI, you're not even close) |
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| More buildings, architecture |
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| Ditto |
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| Ditto again |
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| And again |
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| Etc. |
