Champs-Élysées, Paris

The Champs-Élysées (pronounced [ʃɑ̃zeliˈze] audio (help·info)) is the most prestigious and broadest avenue in Paris. Its full name is "Avenue des Champs-Élysées". With its cinemas, cafés, and luxury specialty shops, the Champs-Élysées is one of the most famous streets in the world, and with rents as high as $1.25 million a year for 1,000 square feet (100 m²) of space, it remains the 2nd most expensive strip of real estate in the world (the first in Europe) after New York City's Fifth Avenue.The name refers to the Elysian Fields, the place of the blessed in Greek mythology.

The Champs-Élysées is known in France as La plus belle avenue du monde ("The most beautiful avenue in the world"). The arrival of global chain stores in recent years has slightly changed the character of the avenue, and in a first effort to stem these changes, the Paris City government (which has called this "banalization") decided in 2007 to ban the Swedish clothing chain H&M from opening a store on the avenue. This street is also very popular with many of the rich and famous.

Events:

Every year on Bastille Day, the largest military parade in Europe passes down the Champs-Élysées, reviewed by the President of the Republic (see our multimedia content on the parade).
Every year from end of November to end of December, the 'Champs-Elysees' Committee contribute for the Holidays seasons lighting of the Champs-Elysees.
The Champs-Elysées is also the traditional end of the last stage of the Tour de France.
Huge and spontaneous gatherings occasionally take place on the Champs-Élysées in celebration of popular events, such as New Year's Eve, or when France won the 1998 FIFA World Cup.

Arc de Triomphe, Paris

This article is about the monument in Paris. For the horse race in Paris, see Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe . For other uses, see Arch of Triumph.

Arc de Triomphe at night
The Arc de Triomphe is a monument in Paris that stands in the centre of the Place Charles de Gaulle, also known as the Place de l'Étoile (Star Square). It is at the western end of the Champs-Élysées. The arch honours those who fought for France, particularly during the Napoleoni

Wars, and today also includes the tomb of the unknown soldier.

The Arc is the linchpin of the historic axis (L'Axe historique) — a sequence of monuments and grand thoroughfares on a route which goes from the courtyard of the Louvre Palace to the outskirts of Paris. The monument was designed by Jean Chalgrin in 1806, and its iconographic program pitted heroically nude French youths against bearded Germanic warriors in chain mail and set the tone for public monuments, with triumphant nationalistic messages, until World War I.
The monument stands over 51 meters (165 ft) in height and is 45 meters wide. It is the second largest triumphal arch in existence. Its design was inspired by the Roman Arch of Titus; The Arc de Triomphe is so colossal that three weeks after the Paris victory parade in 1919, marking the end of hostilities in World War I, Charles Godefroy flew his Nieuport biplane through it, and was caught in a newsreel.

Access:

Pedestrian access to the Arc de Triomphe is via an underpass - dodging through the Paris traffic on the roundabout that surrounds the arc is not recommended. The Arch has one lift, to the level underneath the exterior observation level. Visitors can either climb 284 steps to reach the top of the Arch or take the lift and walk up 46 steps. From the top there is a panoramic view of Paris, of the twelve major avenues leading to the Étoile and of the exceptionally busy roundabout in which the Arc stands. Take the RER or Metro to the Charles de Gaulle - Etoile stop.