Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
where you can pick up a Mercedes handbag and perfume to go with your new car. In the
19thcenturythiswasanareaforhorsestables;today,it'sthedistrictofgarages,limocom-
panies, and car dealerships. If you're serious about selling cars in France, you must have a
showroom on the Champs-Elysées.
NexttoMercedesisthefamous
Lido,
Paris'largestcabaret(andamultiplexcinema).
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 over-
whelmed 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 in-
famous “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.
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 vic-
tory 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 ex-
perience—either from behind the wheel or on foot (take the underpass).
