La Défense, a separate city northwest from the
Champs-Elysées, a clump of modern architecture that resides next to Paris. It’s
tying element to the city of light is the grande arche that aligns with l’arc
de triomph. For the first year or so, I avoided such modernity like I avoided
eating at Mc-Do; but these things end up getting a hold on you. Before I submitted
to La Défense the entire aesthetic of it all did not quite fit into my ideas of
Paris. Such tall buildings tainted and overwhelmed my charming view of the
city. When seen from the top of Montmartre I could not understand why anyone
would want to break up the skyline of terra cotta chimneys and zinc roof tops
with glass and concrete rectangular towers.
There wasn’t anything I was as strongly against, but as I continued to check
off all of the many charms on my Things-to-do-in-Paris list, La Défense
lingered on the bottom, and a curiosity surfaced. What is life like in La
Défense?
What sort of people go there when they could stay in Paris?
Is it overwhelmingly fast-paced?
Is everyone dressed in business suits with Bluetooths and Starbucks to-go cups?
After some convincing, I opened my closed- mind and took line 1 out to La
Grande Arche. The moment I resurfaced from the metro I was staring straight at
the Arch. There is nothing ornate, elaborate in detail, feminine, or really
Parisian about it. White and constructed with horizontal and vertical lines, it’s
grand and to the point, minimal and completely conceptual. There was a silence
in the scene, and it’s possible that I allowed the grand arch to encompass my
senses, but in all actuality all was calm. There is a large bronze sculpture of
a giant thumb adjacent to the arch, and for me it defines La Défense, sticking
out from Paris like a sore thumb, but this quartier of modernity was not what I
had expected. There were plenty of people around, but everyone seemed more
casual and laid back than what one would find even in Le Marais or off Saint
Germain-des-Prés. It was surreal seeing this huge, overwhelming square arch
with people completely at ease on its steps, sunbathing and people watching. A
few guys were playing acoustic guitars; two guys were smoking hookah and
playing cards. Where am I? Then I realized this is still France, you can take
the French out of their leisure setting and place them in an atmosphere that is
assumingly fast paced, and they will still be French, completely at ease with
themselves.
I now see La Défense as part of Paris, just with a slightly different backdrop.
Bisous,
Reba
