The most famous avenue in the world, the Champs Elysees in Paris

The Champs Elysees has a full name of the Avenue des Champs Elysees, which the name translates to Elysian Fields in French, that is meant to be a place of the blessed and a resting place of Gods in Greek mythology.

The Champs Elysees is perhaps one of the most famous avenues within the world and in France is called La plus belle avenue du monde, which translated means the most beautiful avenue in the world and with its magnificence it's no wonder, but this famous tree lined avenue actually didn't begin out in this manner.

In fact, the name stems from the very fact that this whole area was originally fields and market gardens with farmers selling their goods to the local Paris markets.

It was Marie de Medici, who was the wife of King Henry IV, that wanted to clear a number of these fields and extend the garden of the Palais des Tuileries at the former Palais du Louvre, which is now the Louvre Museum, by creating an avenue, and it was before long full of trees that were planted in a very formal fashion in a straight line.

By the late 1700s, the Champs Elysees had become a trendy avenue and also the trees on either side had thickened enough to be given formal rectangular glades, that are called cabinets de verdure. And it was at this point that there were large impressive houses and buildings that were erected on this avenue with spectacular gardens and landscaping that created this avenue to be even more prestigious.

One of the more spectacular and elaborate buildings on the Champs Elysees was the Hotel de Crillon, that was a very popular haunt for royalty and French aristocracy and this spectacular hotel remains there nowadays. In fact, Queen Marie Antoinette used to be taken to the Hotel de Crillon along with her friends to take music lessons.

But there's still a lot more to the history of the Champs Elysees, as within the year 1828, the Avenue des Champs-Elysees formally became the property of Paris and it had been at this point that footpaths, fountains, and even gas lighting were added.

Then in 1836 at the Western end of the Champs Elysees, the Arc de Triomphe that was commissioned by Napoleon Bonaparte I, was eventually finished and inaugurated within the same year underneath the reign of King Louis Philippe. And the Avenue des Champs Elysees continued to have modifications over the years with the change from gas lighting and the large quantity of various shops and cafes progressed even more.

Located to the North West of Paris within the 8th Arrondissement, the Avenue des Champs Elysees goes from the Tuileries Gardens by the renowned Musee du Louvre Museum past Place de la Concorde up to the Arc de Triomphe with the tomb of the tomb of the Unknown Soldier and this avenue is nearly two kilometres long.

Today, this avenue is classed as one of the foremost highly-priced addresses within the world with several shop owners and chic boutiques paying premium rental prices of hundreds of thousands, and the Champs Elysees has become a significant landmark in Paris that's very popular with the rich and famous, who can travel here just for a day of shopping in Paris.

But not only do you have a number of the top names in luxury brands like Cartier and the perfumery Marionnaud, there are various places to eat like an Italian, the Haagen Dazs, a French bistro, the Laduree tea room, etc.

In addition to this, the Avenue des Champs Elysees is home to the famous Lido Cabaret with the Bluebell girls, a cinema that shows movie premiers, a night club, fancy buildings like the five star hotel known as the Marriot Champs Elysees and it's also lined by the Grand Palais and also the Petit Palais that are now home to Lido Cabaret.

There is also the impressive Jardins des Champs Elysees with the Grand Palais that buts onto it, the theatres such as the theatre Marigny and the impressive fountains of the Champs Elysees and these fountains are sometimes known as the four seasons fountains, as there are four in total, but as you can no doubt appreciate the Jardins des Champs Elysees Gardens are a tranquil spot to relax before you decide to stroll further on to the fountains of the Champs Elysees, the Tuileries and The Louvre.

Now as you'll be able to appreciate, just about everybody that goes on holiday to Paris will go along the Champs Elysees whether or not it be taking a casual stroll or on one of the bus tours in Paris, nevertheless this tourist attraction is even more unbelievable at certain times of the year.

To give you an idea, there's a military parade on the fourteenth July to celebrate Bastille Day and also the famous Tour de France cycle race finishes here and this where the awards ceremony takes place.

And even though there are the twinkling lights normally on the avenue, once it turns to the festive season, these are even more spectacular with lovely illuminations and decorations and there are typically spontaneous celebrations that occur on the Champs Elysees like at New Year, or those organised for alternative major events.

But even if you can't get to the city amongst one of the special occasions, ensure you do have enough time to experience this landmark in Paris with its wealth of history, even if it's solely to browse and you will be able to say that you’ve been along the Champs Elysees whilst on holiday in Paris.