Avenue des Champs-Elysées

The Avenue des Champs-Élysées, popularly known as Champs-Élysées (Elysian Fields), is an avenue in the city of Paris, which is one of the most famous and most prestigious promenades in the world. It is also the second most expensive streets in Europe (after the Bond Street in London) with annual rents of €1.1 million per 93 square metres of space. The avenue stretches from the Place the la Concorde to the Place Charles de Gaulle, where the Arc de Triomphe is located. On the avenue, you can find hundreds of exclusive shops, luxury restaurants, cafés, cinemas, theatres as well as numerous clipped horse-chestnut trees. The street was named after the place in Greek mythology called the Elysium - the paradise for immortal heroes. Champs-Élysées is often referred to as "the most beautiful avenue of the world". Near the Place the la Concorde, the avenue boarders on the Jardins des Champs-Elysées, beautiful gardens with numerous fountains and some impressive buildings like the Grand Palais and the Petit Palais in their southern part and the Elysée, the residence of the French President, in the northern part. 

Originally, the site of the Champs-Élysées was occupied by fields and market gardens located outside the city centre. In 1616, however, Queen Marie de Medici decided to extend the axis of the Tuileries Garden by creating a long avenue going east from the Garden. The promenade, which soon came to be known as 'Grande Allée du Roule' or 'Grand-Cours', had gradually become a popular place among the Parisians. In 1694 the promenade was renamed 'Champs-Elysées'. In 1724 the avenue was further extended up to the Chaillot hill (known as l'Etoile). It had not been until 1838, though, that the Champs-Elysées took its present form when the French architect Ignaz Hittorf, created the Jardins des Champs-Elysées. He also added sidewalks, lamps, and fountains to the avenue. In the early 20th century, when the Paris metro line reached the Etoile station, the place had started to become increasingly popular, attracting many investors. Soon the place was full of shops restaurants and hotels.  

The latest transition that the avenue underwent took place in 1994 and was the work of Bernard Huet. He converted the side lanes into pedestrian zones, added new lines of trees and created an underground parking lot. Thanks to these changes, cars occupy only half the width of the avenue.