Champs-Élysées

Champs-Elysées
Paris
IIe-de-France
France

Type: Landmark

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The Avenue des Champs-Elysées is perhaps one of the world’s most recognized streets, but its history is actually quite recent. Up until the end of the 18th century it was still just a field with cows. Under the Second Empire it became the height of fashion, lined with private mansions and dance halls. Today it’s quite hard to find anything of historical interest, since much of the street’s character has been completely transformed by airline offices, cinemas and car showrooms. But despite this modernization, the tree-lined Champs-Elysées remains an impressive avenue framed by the dramatic Arc de Triomphe. Parisians gather here faithfully for annual events such as the Bastille Day parades and the finish of the Tour de France, and to see the sparkling holiday light displays.

The most pleasant area of the Champs-Elysées, between the Rond-Point and the Place de la Concorde, has no shops at all, just leafy gardens, chestnut trees and a few pavilions built for the 1900 Universal Exhibition. One of the nicer buildings, the Pavillon Elysées (at the Carré Marigny) was lovingly renovated and reopened in 2003 as a Lenôtre cooking school, café and boutique. Next door is the Théâtre de Marigny, designed by Garnier in 1853, where Offenbach performed his popular operettas. The Marché aux Timbres (vintage stamps and postcards) takes place outside every Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.

Peeking above the trees on the other side of the avenue is the majestic Grand Palais, a 20th-century Art Nouveau exposition center, currently home to the Palais de la Découverte interactive science museum and planetarium. Next door is the Petit Palais, also built for the 1900 Universal Exhibition. It normally houses the city’s Musée des Beaux-Arts, but is closed for major renovations until 2005.

If window shopping isn’t your thing, take a short detour up the Avenue Franklin D. Roosevelt to the exquisite Musée Jacquemart-André. Formerly the private mansion of the art-collecting couple Edouard André and Nélie Jacquemart, this museum beautifully presents their original furnishings and impressive collection of 18th-century French, Flemish and Italian masterpieces. There’s also an elegant café open for lunch and afternoon tea.