Every design for Courbevoie

Courbevoie owes its name to a bend in the road: Curva Via, the Roman route from Paris to Normandy, turned sharply here to climb the hill on which the town was built. Centuries later, when Henry IV's coach toppled into the Seine from a ferry, the king ordered a wooden bridge built across the river at this spot.

The town lies just two kilometres beyond the Paris city limits, along the Seine, with La Garenne-Colombes and Bois-Colombes to the north, Asnières-sur-Seine to the north-east and Neuilly-sur-Seine to the south. Its southern part is swallowed by La Défense, the business district with the tallest buildings in the Paris area, while the northern streets around Bécon-les-Bruyères keep a calmer, residential pace. The river brought Courbevoie some of its proudest moments, from the rowing and swimming of the Olympic Games to the landing of Napoleon's body on its way to Paris.

The Grande Arche de la Défense rises over the town's southern side, and the Fontaine Agam and L'Araignée Rouge make La Défense feel like Courbevoie's own front yard.