The Champs-Élysées - One Of The Greatest Avenues In the World
The Champs-Élysées
One Of The Greatest Avenues In the World
The Avenue de Champs Elysées is one of the greatest avenues in the world. It’s always full of life, with plenty of shops, restaurants and other entertainment possibilities.
This famous boulevard (the second widest in Europe, after Unirii Blvd. in Bucharest) has two distinctive parts : a huge commercial / entertainment area (Place Charles de Gaulle - Rond-Point) and a walking area bordered by chestnut trees and municipal flower beds (Rond-Point - Place de la Concorde).
The glamour of the Champs-Élysées, particularly its upper end, may not be quite what it was, dominated as it is by airline offices, car showrooms, and bright, light shopping arcades. But there’s still the Lido cabaret, Fouquet’s high-class bar and restaurant, and plenty of cinemas and outrageously priced cafes to bring the punters in.
At Christmas this is where the fairy lights go, and on December 31 everyone happily jams in, in their cars, to hoot in the New Year. The new landscaping project has removed the avenue’s side lanes where cars used to prowl in search of parking spaces, and now pedestrians have an equal share of the avenue’s width, with shade from more trees. cultural centers, deluxe hotels and other activities that participate in the tradition and prestige of the Champs-Elysees are encouraged to return by the municipality.
The stretch between the Rond-Point roundabout - whose Lalique glass fountains disappeared during the German occupation -and Concorde is bordered by chestnut trees and municipal flower beds, pleasant enough to stroll among, but not sufficiently dense to muffle the squeal of accelerating tyres. The two massive buildings rising above the greenery to the south are the Grand and Petit Palais, with their overloaded Neoclassical exteriors, rail station roofs and exuberant flying statuary. They house a number of museums and the Grand Palais is the address for major cultural exhibitions, curtailed at the moment due to major restoration works.
On the north side, combat police guard the high walls round the presidential Elysee palace and the line of ministries and embassies ending with the US in prime position on the corner of place de la Concorde. On Thursdays and at weekends you can see a stranger manifestation of the self-images of states in the postage stamp market at the corner of avenues Gabriel and Marigny.
The Avenue de Champs Elysées is one of the greatest avenues in the world. It’s always full of life, with plenty of shops, restaurants and other entertainment possibilities.
The Champs-Elysées, also named "La plus belle avenue du monde" in French (the most beautiful avenue in the world). The Champs Elysées (Elysian fields) were originally nothing but fields, until Marie de Medicis decided in 1616 to put up a long tree-lined pathway. In 1667, the Tuileries was extended and the Champs-Elysees became a very fashionable place to walk. In 1724, the avenue was extended up to Chaillot hill, now the site of the Arc de Triomphe and the Etoile In 1828 they added footpaths and the fountains.
How to get there Metro line 1, 2, 6, 8, 9, 12 or 13: Charles-de-Gaulle-Étoile, GeorgeV, Champs-Elysées Clemenceau, Concorde RER A : Charles-de-Gaulle-Étoile
Website: http://www.magicparis.com/champselysees/En/commerces.htm; http://www.champselysees.org/
You can’t help but be impressed by the sheer width of the Champs-Elysees. Especially when you consider that it is in the middle of an old city which typically have much more narrow roads. The Champs-Elysees starts at the Arc de Triomphe and heads outwards. The pavements are also very wide and are full of cafes, cinemas and shops. It is one of THE places to be seen (or to own an establishment) in Paris, and has huge numbers of designer stores and 5 star hotels along it.
A good way to see the street is to take the Metro to Franklin D Roosevelt and then stroll up towards the Arc de Triomphe.
