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Sunday, March 22, 2009

La Defense

If you follow the Champs Elysees to the Arc de Triomphe, and then basically keep going straight through the arch and down the street directly opposite the Champs Elysees (Avenue de la Grande Armee), you will eventually end up at La Defense, a big commercial shopping and business area in the northern part of Paris.

I had never been out to La Defense, and E decided it was something I should experience. Plus we had the time.

So, we took the Metro most of the way down, and got out one stop early to check out the random sculptures that line the Esplanade leading to the "Grande Arche."

Looking back towards the Arc de Triomphe.

The La Defense arch.

My favorite of the random sculptures along our walk to La Defense.

(This one is supposed to be turned the other direction and make the sculpture look inordinately tall. But Blogger is lame and keeps rotating it, so it looks really awkwardly loooooong, instead. Whatev. I just love all of the different colors.)




Just to the left of the photo there is a mall, where E and I spent about an hour shopping, and where I found TWO things I had been wanting to find for a good long while now (a jacket that works for Spring and isn't too long or too thick, and an exercise ball).

After shopping for a bit, we hopped on the Metro and met up with some of the BYU kids at the Hard Rock Cafe. Best onion rings I've ever had in my life. They were: thin enough to bite through so the whole onion didn't slide out of the fried batter, but substantial enough to still look like "normal" onion rings. My burger was also great (Red White and Blue burger), but next time I would go without the spicy sauce and just use the BBQ sauce.

(And frankly, next time I probably wouldn't eat at Hard Rock. But it was a fun one-time type thing to do.)

5 comments:

Erin said...

I didn't know there was a Hard Rock there. Funny!

I love the new name of your blog. And the header photo. And your post on La Defense upstages the one I will be doing BIG time. But that's okay. I still love you :)

(And I'm planning on linking to you, since you said it was okay. Plan on a lot of traffic on Tuesday. If you change your mind, let me know.)

Diane said...

Love your new title and picture. I remember going grocery shopping at La Defense when I was in paris on my own. Isn't there a huge supermarket?

Looking forward to our visit.

Bill Cobabe said...

Is the red sculpture a Calder? I really like his stuff... I didn't know he had done anything in Paris, thought. It wouldn't surprise me, I just didn't know...

Pease Family said...

I love your pictures! I was looking for a new blog background today and found this page that made me think of your blog! It's a bunch of French-themed backgrounds, maybe you'll like one of them :)
http://www.backgroundfairy.com/search/label/Frenchy

Sarah said...

Thanks, guys!
Bill, I don't know who did the red sculpture to be honest with you. We were kind of speeding our way through the esplanade to get to the arch and find a bathroom. :)