Suburbs of Paris

La Défense lies west of central Paris, on the axis of the Champs-Élysées.

It is a high-rise development of office buildings, apartments, shops, and restaurants, and features the monumental Grande Arche de la Défense, completed in 1989.

To the southwest is Versailles, home to the 17th-century Palace of Versailles of Louis XIV.

Saint-Denis, to the north, houses the 12th-century Abbey Church of Saint-Denis, where many of France’s kings and queens are entombed.

East of Paris is Marne-la-Vallée, one of several villes nouvelles (“new towns”) outside of Paris, and home to the Disneyland Paris theme park.

Other villes nouvelles include Cergy-Pontoise in the northwest, Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines in the southwest, Évry in the south, and Sénart in the southeast.