Back in the early 1990’s our American living in Paris warned those of us who traveled to Paris often to avoid the La Defense train station for security purposes. Two of us happened to need to catch a train in the station and were discussing the security issue when the Gendarmes walked by. They were in a group of seven with a dog. We decided if they thought they needed to travel in large groups, then we shouldn’t be there.
In 2001 I road the Paris metro from near notre dame to la defense every day for about 6 months. During the week it was like any commuter ride. La defense is the upscale business section of paris. Short walk from the shopping mall north to our office tower. Never any issues.
Weekends were different. Back then the French never worked weekends and really not after 3 on Friday. (and not til about 11 on Monday). The mall by la defense was not a nice place on weekends. I learned to stay more city center, as i was obviously american.
Posting from mobile. Pardon typos.
That was a decade ago. Cant imagone now.