Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
this was an area for horse stables; today, it's the district of garages, limo companies, and car
dealerships.Ifyou'reseriousaboutsellingcarsinFrance,youmusthaveashowroomonthe
Champs-Elysées.
Next to Mercedes is the famous
Lido,
Paris' largest cabaret (and a multiplex cinema).
You can walk all the way into the lobby. Paris still offers the kind of burlesque-type spec-
tacles that have been performed here since the 19th century, combining music, comedy, and
scantily clad women. Movie-going on the Champs-Elysées provides another kind of fun,
with theaters showing the very latest releases. Check to see if there are films you recognize,
then look for the showings
(séances).
A “v.o.”
(version originale)
next to the time indicates
the film will be shown in its original language; a “v.f.” stands for
version française.
The flagship store of leather-bag maker
Louis Vuitton
may be the largest single-brand
luxury store in the world. Step inside. The store insists on providing enough salespeople
to treat each customer royally—if there's a line, it means shoppers have overwhelmed the
place.
Fouquet's
café-restaurant (#99), under the red awning, is a popular spot among French
celebrities, serving the most expensive shot of espresso I've found in downtown Paris (€8).
Opened in 1899 as a coachman's bistro, Fouquet's gained fame as the hangout of France's
WWI biplane fighter pilots—those who weren't shot down by Germany's infamous “Red
Baron.” It also served as James Joyce's dining room.
Since the early 1900s, Fouquet's has been a favorite of French actors and actresses. The
golden plaques at the entrance honor winners of France's Oscar-like film awards, the Césars
(one is cut into the ground at the end of the carpet). There are plaques for Gérard Depardieu,
Catherine Deneuve, Roman Polanski, Juliette Binoche, and several famous Americans (but
not Jerry Lewis). More recent winners are shown on the floor just inside.
Ladurée
(two blocks downhill at #75) is a classic 19th-century tea salon/restaurant/
pâ-
tisserie.
Non-patronscandiscreetlywanderaroundtheplace,thoughphotosarenotallowed.
A coffee here is
très élégant
(only €3.50).
From posh cafés to stylish shops, monumental sidewalks to glimmering showrooms, the
Champs-Elysées is Paris at its most Parisian.
Napoleon had the magnificent Arc de Triomphe commissioned to commemorate his victory
at the battle of Austerlitz. There's no triumphal arch bigger (165 feet high, 130 feet wide).
And, with 12 converging boulevards, there's no traffic circle more thrilling to experien-
ce—either from behind the wheel or on foot (take the underpass).
The foot of the arch is a stage on which the last two centuries of Parisian history have
played out—from the funeral of Napoleon to the goose-stepping arrival of the Nazis to the
triumphant return of Charles de Gaulle after the Allied liberation. Examine the carvings on
