Foto gentilmente concesse da Casa Editrice Bonechi


It was Le Nôtre who, in 1667, created a grand avenue which was called Grand-Cours (to become the Champs-Elysées in 1709), which linked up the Tuileries with the Place dell'Etoile, today Place de Gaulle. The beginning of the avenue is marked by the horses of Marly, a work of Guillaume Coustou: from this point, and as far as the Ronde Point of the Champs-Elysées, the avenue is bordered by an open park. During the Second Empire, it became the drawing room of Paris, a meeting place also with the houses of the best known people of the city. If today it has lost its former aristocratic character, it has lost nothing of its beauty and elegance; exclusive shops, theatres, famous restaurants, headquarters of important airline companies all line the wide pavements, always crowded with Parisians, tourists and cosmopolitan visitors.