• SiewchTravelerParis Olympics 2024
    La Defense Grande Arche.
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    La Defense

    July 25, 2024 in France ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    On Thursday morning, Jeff began his official duties. His first order of duty was to get his accreditation and his competition kit. While he was doing those tasks, I ventured out for my initial explorations. I have been to Paris several times before in the 1990s, so for this trip, I utilized Atlas Obscura as my guide for finding weird and wonderful things in the city.

    To get to the city, I first had to return to La Defense, which is a ten minute walk from the hotel. At La Defense, I marveled at the modernist architecture, including the iconic Grande Arche, and the expansive public space. While exploring the area, I thought of the video for a 1997 song called Stay by German DJ Sash! which was filmed at this site. Here is the clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrwi79HxaOw

    La Defense also features one Atlas Obscura site: a sculpture of a giant thumb. https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/le-pouce-gi…

    We visited La Defense many times on this trip because we had to walk there and back to get to and from the Metro. On one occasion, we mixed things up a little by exiting the Metro one stop earlier. At that earlier stop, we found a giant chair next to a pool. We also took an alternative route back to the hotel, and we came across some unoccupied buildings and an artificial waterfall.    Read more