Champs-Elysees Walking Tour

Day 7: Friday 3rd Jan

Garnier Opera

We set off walking along the Rue de Quatre Septembre to the l'Opera Garnier, an imposing edifice opened in 1875, commissioned by Napoleon III and built by architect Charles Garnier.  The building is like a palace and is still a hub of Paris Opera and music recitals.  You can get cheap tickets to the Opera for 10 euros from 1130am and we may return there later.

Eglise de la Madeleine

From the Opera we strolled down Boulevard des Capucines towards Place de la Madeleine and visited Eglise de la Madeleine a very large church dedicated to St Mary Magdalene.   There was a church on the site since the 12 century and the current neoclassical version was completed in the 18th Century.  We returned later that evening for a classical concert there featuring a classical quartet from Orchestra Les Violons de Francewith a guest violinist playing The Four Seasons by Vivaldi, Schubert's Ave Maria, Pachelbel's Canon, and Gounod.  This was a beautiful venue at night for a concert with excellent acoustics. 

Down the Rue Royal from the Place de la Madeleine is the wide and grand Place de la Concorde with the Eyptian obelisk from Luxor (~1300BCE).  The Place was built by Gabriel, architect to Louis XV, between 1755 and 1775, and was the site of many key events including the guillotine during the Reign of Terror. and at that time was renamed "Place de la Révolution" (1794). Those executed there included Louis XVi, Marie Antoinette, and other Parisian leaders.  The ring leader for the Reign of Terror Maximillian Robosphere was also beheaded here.  The square was and is the site of a number of celebrations and festivals including the celebration of Bastille Day.

The Place de la Concorde looks towards the Tullieries Gardens and the Louvre along the river and , in the opposite direction up the Avenue de Champs-Elysees.  We walked the whole street past the street stalls, designer stores and the imposing statue of Charles de Gaulle who strode into Paris after the 1944 liberation ,under the Arch de Triomphe and down the Champs -Elysees.  Our destination was the Arch de Triomphe commissioned by Napoleon I and completed in 1806.  The Arches of Constantine and Titus in Rome are the 'originals' that everyone wanting to emulate the Roman Empire seems to copy.  The arch is the hub of 12 streets named after Napoleon's generals and provides a great view of the city after 234 stairs are climbed.  

Charles de Gaulle at Liberation

Some notable things are the tomb of the unknown soldier there, memorial plaques to French killed in conflict (including one to the students who resisted the Nazis) and a large plaque of the speech by Charles de Gaulle appealing to the French people in June 1940 to join the free French army and unite in resistance against the Nazi regime.