Facts about Champs Elysees

The construction in Paris of an avenue in the perspective of the Tuileries and Louvre Palace was initiated  in 1667 by King Louis XIV.

Lenotre, the great designer of the Versailles park, cut a huge avenue across countryside meadows.

The avenue was named Champs Elysees in 1709. In Greek mythology, the Champs Elysees are the place where heroes stay after death.

The spectacular Champs Elysees avenue is 1910 meters long and 70 meters wide. See map of Champs Elysees.

With the Avenue de la Grande Armee on the other side of the Arc de Triomphe, they represent altogether a 7 kilometer straight perspective from Place de la Concorde to La Defense business district, West from Paris.

The animation and city life on the Champs Elysees were at their top during the first half of the 20th century. 

Les Champs, as they are called in Paris, were then fashionable and luxurious with top restaurants, stores and hotels. The Champs Elysees acquired then a worldwide reputation for elegance.

After a period of decline, the Champs Elysees were nicely renovated at the end of the 1980th.

They got back their attractiveness as the place to go to, walk along and do shopping.

 Map of Champs Elysees | Champs Elysees hotels | Paris sightseeing | Paris Digest