La Defense Septembre 2015 18 copyright French Moments
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Last Updated: 24 August 2023

Here are a few photos of my walk in La Défense on a bright sunny afternoon in September. La Défense is France’s largest business district and is situated in the Hauts-de-Seine département to the West of Paris.

 

Walking in La Défense

Last winter, I published a post with our photos taken during a walk in La Défense. Yesterday afternoon was bright and sunny, so I headed for Paris after work. My initial plan was to discover the 16th arrondissement near the Trocadéro. A series of traffic issues in the RER A line made it difficult to reach Paris, and I thought I would stop at La Défense. Not exactly what I had in mind.

You never go to La Défense (or any business district) on a beautiful sunny day as there are many more ‘beautiful’ things to see in Paris: the banks of the River Seine, the hill of Montmartre, parks and gardens… But visiting La Défense, no way. I would rather keep this as an option for cloudy days. (And then I would find myself complaining about how La Défense is a dreadful, unpleasant and sad place to be!)

So here I was, emerging from the métro station “Esplanade de la Défense”, blessed with a beautiful vista on the Arc de Triomphe. Many recently built skyscrapers reflected the blue sky and revealed an exciting side of the district.

Based on my Winter walk earlier this year, I walked along the Historical Axis of Paris without forgetting a few hidden places. On each side of the grand perspective are found squares and statues, footbridges linking La Défense to the other suburbs down the ‘Dalle’.

The ‘Dalle’? I’m talking about the artificial platform of a concrete slab that ingenuously hides all the transport links (motorway A14, the roads, métro and train railway lines) to create a vast pedestrian area. It extends from the métro station ‘Esplanade de la Défense’ and the vineyards of Chantecoq to the rear of the Grande Arche.

 

A Photographic Walk in La Défense

Let’s start our photographic walk in La Défense at the métro station ‘Esplanade de La Défense’.

 

In the lower part of La Défense

The CB21 tower seen from the escalator of the métro station:

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CB21 Tower, La Défense © French Moments

View to the Arc de Triomphe from the Takis Bassin:

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Takis Basin, La Défense © French Moments

The Takis Bassin and a view of the Eiffel Tower:

Eiffel Tower from La Défense © French Moments
Eiffel Tower from La Défense © French Moments

France’s tallest skyscraper in 2015: Tour First (231 m):

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First Tower, La Défense © French Moments

A modern view of La Défense from the Alsace footbridge:

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From the Alsace footbridge, La Défense © French Moments

The Cheminée, a monumental sculpture by Moretti:

Le Moretti La Défense © French Moments
Le Moretti, La Défense © French Moments
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The Cheminée, La Défense © French Moments

The Historical Axis of Paris runs through the ‘dalle’ of La Défense:

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The perspective towards Arc de Triomphe, La Défense © French Moments

Reflections of the Cœur Défense tower onto the façade of the Opus 12 tower:

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Coeur Défense, La Défense © French Moments

The Fountain of Agam:

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Agam fountain, La Défense © French Moments

 

In the vicinity of the Grande Arche

The Grande Arche de la Défense:

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Grande Arche, La Défense © French Moments

The Areva Tower (184 m) and the Total Tower (187m) with the Red Spider sculpture (by Alexander Calder) in the forefront:

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Areva and Total towers, La Défense © French Moments

The esplanade of La Défense:

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The esplanade of La Défense © French Moments

The Fountain of Agam:

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The Agam fountain, La Défense © French Moments

From left to right: the Framatome, Total and Cœur Défense towers:

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Areva, Total and Coeur Défense towers, La Défense © French Moments

The top of the D2 tower:

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Top of D2 tower, La Défense © French Moments

The top of the Total Tower (187 m):

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Total tower © French Moments

The Coeur-Défense and Carpe Diem towers:

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Coeur Défense and Carpe Diem Towers © French Moments

A view to the suburb of Neuilly-sur-Seine and the Arc de Triomphe:

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Neuilly and Arc de Triomphe seen from the esplanade of La Défense © French Moments

The CNIT:

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The CNIT © French Moments

From left to right: the Grande Arche, the Technip, Engie and Sequoia Towers:

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Grande Arche, and the Technip, Engie and Sequoia Towers © French Moments
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The geode of La Défense copyright French Moments

 

In the Vicinity of Les Collines de l’Arche

View of La Défense from the Couchant footbridge:

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The view from the Couchant footbridge © French Moments

The futurist Japan Bridge:

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The Japan Bridge © French Moments
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The Japan Bridge © French Moments

The two twin towers of the Société Générale Bank (167 m tall) were completed in 1995. Behind them was built by the same bank, the even taller Granite Tower (184 m) in 2008:

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The Société Générale bank © French Moments

 

My walk in La Défense ended at the feet of these skyscrapers. I then headed to the métro station “Grande Arche de La Défense” to travel back home.

 

Want to know more about La Défense?

Gems of Paris by French Moments
About the author

Pierre is a French/Australian who is passionate about France and its culture. He grew up in France and Germany and has also lived in Australia and England. He has a background teaching French, Economics and Current Affairs, and holds a Master of Translating and Interpreting English-French with the degree of Master of International Relations, and a degree of Economics and Management. Pierre is the author of Discovery Courses and books about France.

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