Paris_ City Guide (Lonely Planet, 7th Edition) - Lonely Planet [100]
A trip to this space located just below the Espace-Info information centre is a real highlight. Drawings, architectural plans and scale models trace the development of the district from the 17th century to the present day. Especially fascinating are the projects that were never built: the 750m-tall Tour Tourisme TV (1961) by the Polak brothers; Hungarian-born artist Nicholas Schöffer’s unspeakable Tour Lumière Cybernetique (1965), a ‘Cybernetic Light Tower’ that, at 324m, would stand at the same height as the Eiffel Tower; and the Tour sans Fin, a ‘Never-Ending Tower’ that would be 425m high, but just 39m in diameter. Ouch.
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A WORK OF ART
La Défense is not only about architecture. A 12m-high thumb, an antique giant, a chunk of the Berlin Wall and a serpent that snakes underground with kids inside are among the many larger-than-life artworks that loiter between skyscrapers. Grab a copy of the illustrated Guide to Works of Art (€2.50) from La Défense’s information office and hunt for art. Or stroll ‘blind’ and see what new treasures you find; a few more appear each year.
The Esplanade Fountain (1975). Also called Bassin Agam or Fontaine Agam after its Palestinian kinetic-art creator, Yaacov Agam, this is actually a colourful, 86m-long pool tiled with Venetian mosaics and pierced by 66 fountains that dance to music at certain times of day (5pm to 7pm Sunday to Friday, to 8.30pm Friday and Saturday). Find it behind the tourist office.
Calder’s Spider (1974). It looks like a spider no one in their right mind would want to meet. Giant-sized and ferocious red, it struts its leggy stuff on place de la Défense.
Vegetal Wall (2006). A mini version of the vertical garden that blooms on the Musée du Quai Branly, this living wall of green shares the same creator, budding Parisian botanical artist Patrick Blanc. Find it next to the Porte du Parvis entrance of the Centre Commercial des Quatre Temps.
The Lampshade (2006). Step inside the shopping centre through Porte du Parvis to see this fabulous light-sculpture hanging from the ceiling. Kiko Lopez crafted it from thousands of Swarovski crystals.
The Thumb (1994). The 12m-tall bronze thumb that gives the thumbs-up on place Carpeaux is not any old thumb. Its maker, Marseille-born César, made it from a cast of his own. Left or right?
Le Moretti (1990). Candy-striped with myriad reds, blues, yellows (19 colours in total), this industrial, 32m-tall ventilation shaft on place de l’Iris is one of several shafts in La Défense to be transformed as art. Nice-born Taymond Moretti (1931–2005) did it using 672 fibre-glass tubes. Lit at night, it’s inspirational.
Takis’ Pool (1987). Plump on that historic axis is this large pool of water studded with 49 multi-coloured lights strung atop spiral metal poles of varying heights. The crystal-clear reflection of the surrounding buildings in the water is a quintessential photo-op.
The Four Heads (2002). London artist Emily Young, one of several artists whose works mingle with skyscrapers in the Triangle de l’Arche district of La Défense, ranks among Britain’s top female sculptors. Masculine stone heads are what you’re looking for.
After Olympia (1986–87) Olympia’s Greek temple’s ornamental façade is the inspiration behind the 23m-long heap of rusted painted steel on av de la Division Leclerc. The work of English sculptor Anthony Caro, its reflections in the glassy buildings around it are as much a work of art as the work itself.
Miró figures (1976). Ridiculing the strict symmetry of the surrounding blocks is this comic pair of bright blue, yellow and red figures in front of the Centre Commerical des Quatre Temp. In keeping with the oversized scale of things in La Défense, the Catalan surrealist’s figures stand 11m and 12m tall.
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ST-DENIS
Today just a suburb north of Paris’ 18e arrondissement with a very mixed population, St-Denis was for some 1200 years the burial place of the kings of France. The