The Grande Arche at La Defense

On the morning of our very last day in Paris, we took the metro to La Defense. In contrast to the beautiful classic structures of other Parisian icons, here the buildings are all huge, very modern and high-rise. The more than 70 skyscrapers here are found around the Grande Arche, the western-most extremity of the 10 km long historical axis of Paris. This monument, designed by Danish architect Johan Otto von Sprekelsen, is in the shape of a hollow 110 m. cube.

Ww noted the very modern interesting architectural details between the pillars of the Grande Arche at La Defense, including 'The Sail' by engineer Peter Rice.

The steep steps of the Grande Arche called for very careful treading down them. Be sure to 'not disturb' the pigeon population there.

There are huge attractive sculptures and installations at the Place de La Defense, among them the one below. In fact the esplanade here is an open air museum of modern art.

Spot me if you can! (2014)

23 February 2014