Jean J.

Has anyone stayed in La Defense when visiting Paris or even been there? I will be traveling w/a group and that's where they booked us. Thanks for your help. Also any suggestions for another affordable place to stay?

Ursula

Jean: "La Défense" is a very modern kind of suburb west of the center, i.e. west of the Arc de Triomphe. The métro will take you quickly to the very center (Champs-Elysées, Concorde, Louvre, Les Halles). It's not really what I would call charming, but it might be a great experience with spectacular buildings such as "La Grande Arche". You should go up there. The view is breathtaking. If you are booked with a group, it's probably better to stay with them. IMO it's nothing wrong with La Défense, it's just not in the middle of all. But Paris is not that huge, anyway. <BR>Have a nice trip!

Bux

La Defense is a weird place from which to experience Paris. It's a new commercial office building center. It's worth seeing, but to stay there is to not have stayed in Paris, in my opinion. For me, the joy of walking to sidewalk cafe around the corner from my hotel, or walking in the evening from dinner to my hotel is part of the Parisian experience. Staying in La Defense is like staying in a suburb anywhere. It's fine for touring the sites by day, but you miss the essence that others have written about for centuries. <BR> <BR>Paris is full of hotels, both small and large and with rooms at a fairly wide range of prices. Rooms generally tend to be small until you get ot the very expensive ones. Paris is also a city whose hotels and restaurants have been well documented n numerous guide books as well as in frequent articles in periodicals and newspapers. "Affordable" is such a subjective term that it makes "cheap" and expensive seem totally "objective." Apparently, enough people seem to find the $500/night rooms at the Ritz affordable enough for them to fill a decent enough percentage of the 175 rooms to stay in business. People still tell me they find rooms for $50. I suspect at $100, it begins to get easier to find a room in a nice central location. It's dificult for a group to book a block of reasonably priced similar rooms in an old hotel in the heart of the city. That's one of the things I would dislike about traveling with a group, but I am sure others find some advantages as a trade off.

Jon

I would much rather stay in the heart of the city (1st, 6th). Unless you have specific reasons for staying in La Defense, I would contact my booking agent & make them change it. <BR>Have a great trip, <BR>j.

Ann

When we lived in Paris, my husband worked in La Défense, so I know it fairly well. It is the main business centre for Paris, with most of the large multinationls having offices there. There is also a large shopping centre. <BR> <BR>Personally I think it quite spectacular in its own right. You can get a fantastic view from the top of the Grande Arche which is in a direct line with the Arc de Triomphe and the Louvre - the Grande Axe - you can see right across Paris. The architecture of all the buildings is very, very modern and there are tours available to explain it and the many works of art/sculpture there. It is really quite fascinating. <BR> <BR>Although it is not the centre of Paris, it is extremely close (Paris is much smaller than people imagine) and the transport links are excellent. I would be happy to stay there myself. I really used to enjoy going in.

Justtrying

FYI: IF memory serves, the trip from La Defense to the city center requires more than a typical green Metro ticket that one would buy a carnet of in the city. Not that the additional cost is exorbinant, but it caught us by surprise when we tried to get back on the Metro for the return trip (to the City).

Julie

You can travel to/from La Defense and Paris using a standard metro ticket.

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Fred

It certainly isn't an area I would choose to stay in because it's not in Paris. You can't walk out of your hotel and be someplace. You will be able to take the metro into the central area in the heart of Paris but you won't be staying there among the shops, the sites, the small streets to stroll, the cafes, etc. For more Paris information e-mail me – [email protected]

Andrea

I agree with the above poster who said that to stay there is not to have stayed in Paris. It's nice in its own way, but it's NOT AT ALL what people typcially imagine when they think of Paris. It has about as much typical Parisian charm as the airport. It's a nice place, but not "Paris" (I know, I know, it obviously *IS* Paris literally, but hopefully you know what I mean).

Kavey

In response to the poster who mentioned travel tickets being invalid, I recall the same problem when I lived in France and used to visit Paris on the weekends.<BR><BR>From Paris city centre you can travel out to La Defense on either the regular metro (cant recall which line) or the RER (B, I think).<BR><BR>The metro takes much longer but is covered by the regular metro ticket, the RER is quicker but requires an additional ticket.<BR><BR>Just to clarify, the m,etro is mainly a central Paris transport and a regular metro ticket covers the whole network. The RER is a faster network which crosses through central Paris (wih fewer and more distantly spaced stops than the metro) but extends right out into the suburbs for quite a distant. A standard metro ticket only covers use of the RER trains within the central Paris zone. This is indicated on maps.<BR><BR>I often used the RER where relevant as the trains are fast, big and emptier (outside of rush hour) and we dont have those clever double decker trains in the UK.<BR><BR>PS, The view from the top of the Grande Arche is one of my favourites and with a free art gallery at the top too, and all for less than half the eiffel tower and no queuing<BR><BR>Kavey

Kavey

Oops<BR>Got caught up in talking about the RER ticket issue...<BR><BR>Much as I love the area, and the supermarket is a fabulous place to stock up on typical french foods to take home and to make a picnic of, and there are a few good restaurants here, I would definitely not stay here during a Paris trip for reasons mentioned above.<BR><BR>Paris evenings are for strolling the neighbourhood, stopping in bistros and brasseries and cafes and enjoying the views and people watching.<BR><BR>La Defense is a business area and mainly deserted at night.