Champs Elysees tour

Everywhere around the Champs-Elysées there is an atmosphere of revelry, enjoyment, beauty, and luxury. When taking the Champs Elysee tour , as you approach the Place de la Concorde – the street that borders Jardins des Champs-Elysées, you’ll be able to see beautifully manicured and maintained gardens with sculpted fountains as well as some amazing architecture in the form of Grand and Petit Palais at the south and north sides of the avenue. The Petit Palais or Petit Palace has been the French President’s residence since 1873 and should not be missed on your Champs Elysee tour!

The Champs-Elysées is the hub for any major celebration in Paris. Champs-Elysées is lit up with a million bulbs and is decorated like a newly-wed bride on significant days like the New Year’s Eve, or on 14th of July every year, when the military parades through this avenue or historical events such as the Liberation of France after the World War II ended, the victory at the Football World Cup, among other events.

If you turn the pages of history books, you’ll realize that back in the 16th century the Champs-Elysées was not much more than rolling greens and was located outside the Paris’ center. However it was in the year 1616 that Marie de Medicis asked for a long elms-lined triumphal pathway to be designed, which would lead from the east of Tuileries. The same route was designed again in 1667 as an addition of the Gardens of Tuileries by Le Notre. The promenade was then named 'Grande Allée du Roule' or 'Grand-Cours,’ a fashionable, but still isolated place as it was away from the city. However, in 1694 – 1695, the Grande Allee du Roule was yet again renamed as 'Champs-Elysées', or "Elysian Fields" in English, which is the derivation of the Greek 'Elusia,' the resting place for heroes.

Over the years the Champs-Elysées has been extended and redesigned to develop in to the current form. The Champs-Elysées was recently given a facelift by Bernard Huet in 1994. Huet converted the side lanes into pedestrian areas and added underground parking allowing more people to walk the avenue undisturbed by vehicular traffic.

A Champs Elysee tour is not complete if you don’t visit the Arc de Triomphe or the site of the victorious journey of Napoleon Bonaparte. Today, the Arc de Triomphe stands guard over the remains of an anonymous soldier from the first World War, with an eternal flame burning in salutation. Climbing atop the Arc presents you with magnificent, panoramic views of Paris and you can see the glittering Seine and the bejeweled Champs-Elysées. Stop by at the gallery housed in the Arc and pause to enjoy the sculptures, especially the panels created by Francois Rude.

The Champs Elysées tour has a splendor all of its own and perhaps, that’s what makes it so special.