Tell me about La Défense

Not much to see or do there, honestly. It offers an impressive view of Paris from the steps of the building with the hole in it, but it is not really a very nice area.

I was at La Défense Arena just a week ago for the swimming and waterpolo during the Olympics and I agree with Jojo Rabbit. Not much to see and do there. La Défense is a sterile area with huge office buildings, a mall and of course La Grande Arche. Not much in the way of nice places to have lunch, it’s mostly fast food restaurants.
But if you’ve always been curious, why not just go there? Hop on metro line 1 and you’ll be right there. La Grande Arche is quite impressive and from its steps you can see all the way to the Arc de Triomphe.

Third in line to say “not much to do!” although there is an enormous Westfield Mall there if you like mall shopping. :-)

Area is pretty sterile/barren with not much in the way of food/drink or places to sit and people watch. The view down (over?) to l’Etoile is pretty neato. And FWIW, I was there a few months ago and do not regret going. It’s just not all that exciting, alas. If you only have 3 nights in Paris, you might want to swerve it.

On a 5th trip to Paris, I say "give it a go"! Only from Monday to Thursday though, avoiding the morning commute, perhaps around lunchtime when the area is buzzing. There is some neat architecture, public art (huge Calder and Miró sculptures), and you can go to the top of the Grande Arche (might be closed, double-check) for some interesting views of the neighborhood and Paris in the distance.

Thanks everyone. You are THE BEST!
It's so helpful to have answers from those of you who have just been there (Jojo Rabbit, Dutch_traveler, Volva).
Balso, we might do what you recommended. We have 10 metro passes on our watches, so we'll just "pop over and back" on the metro and not even look for a place to eat for lunch.
And I dare not go into any mall/stores to "look" because I don't want to be tempted to buy anything at the beginning of our trip.

Big ugly office park. I'd put it way down the list. For example, if you have not visited the tombs of the French kings at Basilica St. Denis then do that -- I can think of a dozen other things I'd do first. We were there most recently for Eternelle Notre Dame VR experience (which is now available right at Notre Dame and is absolutely worth doing). My husband doesn't do VR as he is visually impaired so the plan was for him to find a cafe and hang around till I was done -- well we finally found something but it wasn't easy It really is a vast wasteland.

After several visits to Paris and as fans of modern architecture, we went to the area on a workday to look around. It was all interesting, including the ‘modern’ Arch. We found a lunchspot that was fine and we walked east towards central Paris and caught a bus back to see more of the area. We have also been to Basilica St Denis and other less touristy areas. There’s always something to find when out exploring in our opinion. But we are also travellers who take a bus or tram to the furthest point of the route and then return; we like to see neighbourhoods that are outside of a ‘downtown’ core.

Claire, we too have sometimes satisfied our curiosity by taking a "tram to the end point," just because. I always want to know what is "just beyond."
For our short visit, we are planning on going to the Musee d' Orsay, but I've been reading the Paris section of Rick's guidebook, and I think we'll use some of our time for WWII sites in Paris.

I went out to that area on the metro since I had a metro week pass during some free time during a RS tour several years ago, and I liked walking around it. I probably spent less than an hour there but sat on the steps, took some photos and enjoyed the modern setting.

Carol, the lovely aspect of Paris is that there are so many choices. However you end up spending the time, enjoy!

Claire -- We also went to la Defense the first time by just heading to the end of a metro line. We like to explore the ends of metro lines and one time just stumbled onto the Island of Grand Jatte of the famous painting in the Chicago Art Institute and inspiration for Sunday in the Park with George.
https://janettravels.wordpress.com/2010/06/20/end-of-the-line-3-levallois-to-gallieni/
Paris is a great town to just explore. I still find la Defense one of the bigger bores.
Consider visiting the ruins of the human zoo on the Eastern edge of Parc Vincennes.

Jean,
We'll probably do what you did. Take a few photos, take some time to just absorb the setting, and then hop back to the "tourist areas" of Paris. Seeing that rectangular-shaped building from afar makes me want to see it up close. It is such a contrast to the buildings in the part of Paris we all know.

Carol, it should be obvious to everyone reading your posts that you’re really curious about La Grande Arche. So, go! Go and see for yourself what it is like! Yes, there are plenty of other things to do and see in Paris, but La Grande Arche is calling your name and it’s time for you to answer!
Like I wrote earlier I’ve been there 2 times in the past few weeks during the Olympics. Firstly for the swimming, which was in the evening when the Arche was lit up beautifully.
My waterpolo event was a week later, during the day. After the match ended I had some time to kill before it was time to catch the train towards the hockey venue for the men’s hockey final. I wanted to grab a quick bite to eat, but few of the restaurants appealed to me and those that did were hugely busy because of the fact that a sold out La Défense Arena had just been emptied out.
I went to have a look inside the Mall and immediately came upon an enormous Auchan supermarket with a huge deli section with all kinds of freshly made ready to eat food. I took out some sushi and a cold drink and had a lovely picnic on the steps of La Grande Arche. Lots of people had the same idea and the steps were practically full. It was so nice to sit there and admire the view all the way down to the Arc de Triomphe. Enjoy your time in Paris and enjoy your visit to La Défense!

Dutch traveler,
Yes, pretty obvious that I have been fascinated by seeing that huge rectangular building off in the distance and hoped to see it up close. Do locals call it "La Grande Arche"? and not La Défense? Thanks for the tip for finding ready-made food at the Auchan supermarket. Having a picnic outside on the steps sounds lovely, if the weather cooperates.

It used to be that you could visit the roof of the Arche de La Défense, and it did offer a very nice view back to the city. I have been up there when it was still possible. Interestingly the Arche is offset relative to the Champs Elysées by the same angle the Louvre is offset. And that on purpose.

Its a pity you can no longer go up on the roof though. I am often in that area, as I travel to Paris for business several times a year, and our company's offices are there.

I guess there has been some misunderstanding/miscommunication.
The official name of the building you wish to see is La Grande Arche de la Fraternité. People also refer to it as l'Arche de la Défense or La Grande Arche or simply L’Arche.

La Défense is the name of the area or neighborhood in which the building is located. La Défense technically isn’t even part of Paris, it’s a huge business district which is spread out over the territory of 3 communes; Puteaux, Nanterre and Courbevoie.
So La Grande Arche is just one of many buildings in an area called La Défense. Just like the Freedom Tower (or One World Trade Center) is just one building in an area called Lower Manhattan, New York.

Wengen & Dutch Traveler,
I am so appreciative of the explanation you gave. I guess I didn't ask the right question because I now know my curiosity is NOT in La Défense, but in the Arch. And Wengen, I remember reading awhile back that it was possible to go to the top, and that is something we would have done. I am disappointed to know it is no longer possible.
Dutch Traveler, Thanks for a thorough explanation.

"I think we'll use some of our time for WWII sites in Paris."

Circling back to this, lol....IF you haven't been to see the Paris LIberation Museum this is a good one. It's free (City of Paris Museum), closed on Mondays, no need for a timed entry. The entrance is right across the street from the entrance to the Catacombs.

https://www.museeliberation-leclerc-moulin.paris.fr/en

If you are there on the right day of the week Paris Walks also has an excellent walking tour of the Right Bank sites related to WWII starting in front of the Hotel Meurice where the German HQ was.

www.paris-walks.com

@Pam,
Paris Liberation Museum: No, we haven't been to that museum. I did not know about it since it is beyond the boundary of RS' Paris map! Thanks for the info. I think it will be great to go to it since we plan on going to the Museum of Surrender in Reims.
Paris Walks' WW2 tour: I looked up the tour which is on Thursdays at 10:30 a.m., but unfortunately, just a few days ago we booked d' Orsay at 11:00 a.m....same day! So sad. Months ago, you had mentioned "Paris WWII History Tour," but by the time we were ready to commit only private tours are available and we are not willing to spend $500 on a 3 hour tour.
I should have "picked your brain" first...since you've spent so many days in Paris...and are "near expert level" on everything there is to see and do in Paris.

The only reason to go to La Defense is to get the bus to Malmaison.

The only reason to go to La Defense is to get the bus to Malmaison.

I had never heard of it, looked it up, and I am considering a visit when I am in Paris in October.

Thank you for posting this.

Carol, I poked around La Defense on a nice sunny afternoon and had no regrets. Ate a takeaway lunch on the steps of the arch, and watched office workers play boule on their break. Everyone is right in that there’s not anything to really “do” here, but given how convenient a metro ride it is I think it’s totally worth satisfying your curiosity over. The Arc itself it pretty cool.

I guess I’m a sucker for symmetry because I really enjoyed the view of this straight line from there, through two Arc de Triomphes, the obelisk on Place de La Concorde, and into the heart of Louvre. It’s such a simple thing that connects this modern office park to the city’s origins.

Reporting back: I satisfied my curiosity. We did ride Metro 1 to the end to view La Grande Arche!!! And after navigating what seemed like endless levels and numerous exit choices, we arrived at the esplanade…looked to find the arch….and there it was…so massive right in front of us.
I thought it was spectacular. I was a happy traveler.
What was unexpected was number of stores as well as people heading everywhere. There must have been more people there than the total number of people in my town.
And way more than the village in which I grew up.

@Pam: We also made it to the Liberation Museum and even got to go to the bunkers underground.
We loved choosing different experiences for this trip.

Thanks for reporting back, Carol. It sounds like you enjoyed it.