 | Paris Champs-Elysées Reviews | 1 - 10 of 17 |  |
Call me scrooge, call me a downer, but the Avenue des Champs-Elys?es is THE MOST overrated avenue in Paris. The 8th doesn't do it for me; if I wanted wall to wall people gawking from store to store holding their McDonald's extra-large sodas and their microscopic bag from Chanel (because that's all they can afford, but just HAD TO go there) waddling up the avenue and trying to get the perfect photo of Aunt Cecilia and Uncle Ralph next to Planet Hollywood and waiting online for a table at Fouqet's because they just HAVE to sit in an authentic Parisian cafe...then I could have stayed home in NY and hung out on 5th Avenue (the most overrated avenue in NY).
The Avenue des Champs-Elys?es is worth a visit- one visit- short, sweet, see the Arc de Triomphe, and then move on to another, more interesting area.
My alternatives would be:
-for haute couture and fashion: go to Rue du Faubourg St-Honor?. THAT'S where you get a glimpse of Catherine Deneuve!
-for nightlife: anywhere else! The left bank, Marais in the 3rd and 4th, rue Oberkampf. If you must see one of those Vegas-y shows, try Paradis Latin instead of Crazy Horse.
For Christmas lights, Bastille Day, parades and other major exhibitions, the Champs-Elys?es is the best. For the other 358 days of the year, I say don't bother. You'll get more a feel of Paris on any other street or avenue. Leave a Comment
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Avoid:
People pushing flowers into your hands
People selling dancing mickey and minney mice
People selling things that "climb" down windows!?!
People who want to talk to you
You know what I mean, this place is a nightmare.
Go up the top of the Arc de Triumph. There is no lift and lots of stairs but there is a little exhibition with loads of old interesting pictures and there are good views of Paris from the top Leave a Comment
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We all know the words of the famous song of Joe Dassin "Aux Champs-Elysees, e midi ou e minuit , au soleil ou sous la pluie on trouve tout ce que vous voulez aux Champs-Elysees"... yes may be Everything is possible on the Champs-Elys?es but still what I saw was just an ordinary street...
Too many tourists, too many pick-pockets, the cafes and shops are unreasonably and horribly expensive... Of course you would have to see the place... still... keep in mind my advise: keep your purse safe, don't go shopping there, if you would like to have a cup of coffee or anything be ready to pay double price or even triple if you would like to sit outside on the street.... But anyway who would like to have something to drink outside in the smog?
Here is a picture of Champs-Elysees as I saw it.... a big grey street... may be it was the weather, who knows? Leave a Comment
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Do me a favor and read the whole thing before you start throwing stuff.
The Champs-Elysees:
I still go there for multiple strolls everytime I visit Paris, but let's be honest - (imho) parts of the Champs-Elysees are becoming a beautiful, seductive, and overpriced tourist trap. (Charles de Gaulle would roll over in his grave.)
An espresso or drink at Fouquet's terrace for only 10 - 15 Euros
And let's not forget the below-average dinners & touristy glitz shows at the Lido for a mere $220 - $400 a pop (2008 prices) ... the dollar sucks
Hey, it's the Champs-Elysees.
She may be a little jaded, but despite the commercialism the Champs-Elysees is still one of the most warm, sexy, attractive, sassyest-classiest strolls in the world, especially down below Rond-Point.
I still make sure to wander down the Champs-Elysees every time I visit Paris anyway.
There IS no alternative to the Champs-Elysees ... I'll always love it.
Also: Some truly great restaurants (Guy Savoy, Les Ulysees Du Vernet, Ledoyen, etc.) and clubs hide just off the Champs Elysees. One block or two off the street and you're in Paris restaurant heaven.
Alsace on the Champs has excellent choucroute. Fouquet's has some of the best cafe/people-watching in the world (but the food @ Fouquet's is definitely a tourist trap....)
Champs Summary:
She's kind of like that aunt you see only during holidays: sometimes a little too much, ... but you still love her to death anyway.
"in France they kiss on main street..." Leave a Comment
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So I'm strolling down the Champs Elysee when all of the sudden I see a long queue of people waiting in line to get inside the Louis Vuitton shop. Is there a famous celebrity inside? Are they giving away free key rings? A grand opening with complimentary champagne? No, these folks are simply awaiting their turn to enter and purchase something. Can you believe that? A Malaysian couple at the end of the line tell me that it's a security measure to limit the number of shoppers that can go inside. I believe it's just a tourist trap to make people think that there is a legitimate reason to stand in line. I mean it's not a jewelry store, right? I also walked past Cartier and there was no line to get in there.
I have heard that some Chinese shoppers actually pay people to stand in line and purchase purses here. (The China embassy is less than 3 blocks away from Louis Vuitton.) So there is not only a limit to the number of shoppers allowed inside, but also a restriction on quantity of purchases? This is mind boggling to me and I show the Malaysian couple my fake Louis Vuitton wallet that I bought in Guangzhou for 10 yuan, which is about 1 Euro. Our chat ended there, but I didn't want anybody thinking that I was the end of the line anyway.
Why stand in line on the Champs Elysee to spend 100 Euros for a wallet that costs 10 yuan on Guangzhou's Chang Shou Street? There's no queue in Shenzhen to buy fake Louis Vuitton handbags and you can purchase as many as you like there! Leave a Comment
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Avoid buying overpriced souvenir items from the shops in around this street.
Just browse, but don't buy chintz. Champs Elysées has many other offers like ... just taking pictures of the plaque with the name of the avenue on it, looking at the numerous people milling up and down, as you sip on your chocolat chaud or eat a baguette.
If you want souvenirs, the typical stuff such as plastic eiffel towers and , t-shirts, mugs and scarves with Paris plastered all over them, you are better off going to Blanche (line 2, can take the metro directly from the north end of the Champs Elysées metro station Charles de Gaulle Etoile, won't take your more than 16 mins) the less glamourous part of Paris which will have all of these items at a fraction of the price on the Champs Elysees. Sometimes you can even bargain with the shop owners, on the streets surrounding the Sacré Coeur. Leave a Comment
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Dinning and Shopping on the Champs-Elysees and other tourist areas is expensive. Take a walk just a block or two and you will find wonderful crepares and bakeries. They have some of the best breads you have ever tired. It is difficult to get a salad, at least in September I found it nearly impossible. Try having some cheese, sliced tomatoes with fresh basil top with a wonderful balsimic vinegar. Oh, the cheeses all over Europe were mouth watering.....the best ever and I was not a cheese lover, at all. TIP: Keep change handy as I found all of the bathrooms required coin. Picture is of the undergound bathroom in the fashion district.
Watch were the locals go or ask them. They love to tell you about their home. Leave a Comment
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the Champs-Elysées - I was quite disappointed on my first trip, but I made up my mind on my 2nd trip I'll take a closer look and may be I missed the magic somehow. Still I think it's just a well loved tourist trap. Leave a Comment
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Champs Elysees is a beautiful avenue where there are lots of shops but here you will pay twice as much for what ever you are buying from coffee to batteries, then if you went a couple of streets away. Leave a Comment
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At both ends of the Champs-Elysées, my girlfriend and I were asked a number of times by people, looking kind of lost, if we spoke English. If we said yes, they immediately opened up a little pamphlet, asking for money.
If someone at the end of the Champs-Elysées (either at the Jardin de Tulieres or the Arc de Triomphe) asks if you speak English, just shake your head no. They don't need help, they just want money.
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