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Champs Elysées, Paris

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Looking Towards The Arc De Triomphe - Paris

Looking Towards The Arc De Triomphe
by ChrisRJ

Things to Do in Paris: Champs Elysées tips and photos posted by real travelers and Paris locals.

Champs Elysées

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As the broad main street of a commercial city, the Champs-Elysées had a different genesis than most. It began in 1616 as an uphill carriage promenade allowing Marie de Medicis to extend her outings from the Cours de la Reine along the Seine. (all this was a rural adventure because the commercial Paris was on the Ile and adjacent banks). We come from one of the other rare cities with an overly wide main street (New Orleans-Canal Street) and are very sensitive to the effects of commercialism : its self-interests and neglects affecting the evolution of a civic structure. Luckily for the the C-E , it retained its playground origins into the 1800’s when Hittorf (1834) designed 4 English garden units (Carrees) below the Rond Point with only a select number of restaurants or theaters and a fountain in each (almost all remain) among the trees. There were two intrusions for the 1900 Exposition, the Grand and Petit Palais which have persisted. Appropriately these are venues for an art museum and fine special exhibits plus the Palais de la Decouverte wing of the G.P. But the lower leg of the Champs has kept encroachment away on the north, leaving only the upper part to the wiles of commerce. Of course the Arc at the top overpowers these uses of real estate and certain types of shopping and dining have their allure. In fact it is handy to have a McDonald’s close at hand when you need rehydration and stimulation after a long hot afternoon’s walk (where you can get the largest least expensive fountain Coke in France and a free clean restroom to boot).