The Champs-Elysees is the most famous street in Paris. It is located between Place de la Concorde and Place Charles de Gaulle, where the Arc de Triomphe is located. The length of the street reaches 2 kilometers, and many tourists enjoy walking along it among the shops of the most expensive fashion brands.
The name Champs-Elysees comes from the word Elysium, which in ancient Greek mythology was considered the place of Eternal Spring. In the mid-17th century, the Place de la Concorde (then called Place Louis 15) was created behind the Tuileries Garden. From Tuileries to the east along the Seine embankment through swampy forests, the architect Andre Lenotre laid a wide avenue.
There were no broad avenues in Paris at that time. The city maintained its chaotic medieval architecture. This first wide avenue was called the Grand Cour (Great Courtyard). Parks were laid out around it. The richest people of the city began to build their mansions and palaces here. By the second half of the 19th century, the Champs-Elysees had become the most respectable area of the city. It was even called the "great salon of Paris". Nobles here walked, met, talked. A huge number of paintings by artists of the classical era, and then Impressionism, were painted on the Champs-Elysees. These paintings very vividly convey the atmosphere how the rich Parisians of that era lived. Today, the Champs-Elysees no longer has the same aristocratic splendor, but the street has not lost its beauty.
If you start your walk along the Champs-Elysees from the Place de la Concorde, then the first kilometer is a park area. On the right side are the Grand Palace and the Small Palace. These Art Nouveau palaces were built for the 1900 World`s Fair. They were designed as exhibition centers, and now they house museums and hold exhibitions. Near the palaces there are three theaters and several pavilions.
On the left side of the Champs-Elysees in the depths of the park area is the Elysee Palace. You can only see it through the fence. The palace is closed to the public, as it is the official residence of the President of France. The palace was built in 1718 by the architect Armand-Claude Molle. Many important events in France took place there, including the abdication of Napoleon after his defeat at the Battle of Waterloo.
In the center of the Champs-Elysees is a Round Square. It divides the street between the Place de la Concorde and the Arc de Triomphe approximately equally. From the Round Square to the Arc de Triomphe, the Champs-Elysees are built up with houses. They are the most expensive boutiques of fashion houses, the most expensive apartments. The rental rates for real estate here are so high that everything here is the most expensive.
