Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
In 1667, Louis XIV opened the first section of the street as a short extension of the
Tuileries Garden. This year is considered the birth of Paris as a grand city. The Champs-
Elysées soon became
the
place to cruise in your carriage. (It still is today; traffic can be
gridlocked even at midnight.) One hundred years later, the café scene arrived. From the
1920s until the 1960s, this boulevard was pure elegance; Parisians actually dressed up to
comehere.Itwasmainlyresidences,richhotels,andcafés.Then,in1963,thegovernment
pumped up the neighborhood's commercial metabolism by bringing in the RER (com-
muter train). Suburbanites had easy access, and
pfft
—there went the neighborhood.
