I suggested to my wife that we go out to the Western side of Paris to the business district called La Défense, I wanted to take a few photos and check out the modern architecture.  We took the subway and as soon as we emerged from underground we were captivated by the immensity and beauty of this place.  It is at the western end of Paris’s 10 km long Axe Historique (Historical axis) which connects the Louvre, the Tuileries Gardens, the Place Concorde, the Champs Élysées, the Arc de Triomphe and crosses the Seine concluding at an amazing modern building in La Défense called La Grande Arche. We also spent a long time sitting in the sun watching kids ride their bikes, scooters and skateboards in an empty fountain with a view back toward the center of Paris.

It was really difficult to edit these photos down to one blog post as I took several hundred!

First, the great Moretti sculpture –

This beautiful Parisian woman modeled for me in front of a massive Calder sculpture –

Two views of La Grande Arche –

The fountain –