A Sunday Stroll Down The Champs Élysées

Yesterday was one of those absolutely gorgeous days in Paris, that would incite any songwriter to rhapsodize about the thousands of chestnut trees in bloom.  What better way to celebrate the Spring season than a leisurely stroll down the Champs Élysées!

To make it even more irresistible was that this Sunday, it was without the usual drone of polluting and noisy traffic.  Once a month, a Sunday will be set aside for Parisians to reclaim one of the prettiest avenues in the city.

So, let me take you along, as I often love to do with visitors.  Before though, a little history of this absolutely magnificently designed Parisian thoroughfare!

First of all, it really was a field of wheat, oats, and trees, before it was carved into a very long alley.  Paris was expanding westerly  and needed a route towards the Seine.

The whole alley was created and planted by  the famed landscaper of King Louis XIV, André Le Notre, in 1670, who designed the gardens of Versailles, as well as many other famous châteaux.

He wanted to extend the gardens of the Palace of the Tuileries, where he  planted trees on both sides and designed the side gardens that are still exquisite, and my favourite part, near Place de la Concorde.

It wasn’t until the 1698 that its present name was given.   The Elysian Fields were a paradisiacal afterlife in Greek mythology reserved  for heroes to enjoy eternal peace and rest.

The first 200 years of the  Champs Élysées  remained a mere country road, where Parisians could head west towards Neuilly Sur Seine for their weekend retreats.

Initially it suffered from a bad reputation, frequented by unscrupulous folks and prostitutes.   By the early 1800’s though, it became a boardwalk and showcase for the bourgeoisie to parade up and down the alley in their elegant horse-drawn carriages and walk along the wide sidewalks dressed in the latest of fashionable attire in hopes of being seen and admired.

Initially the majority of theatres and cafés were  mostly concentrated along the gardens from Concorde to the Rond Point, but quickly spread all the way up to the Arc de Triomphe.

Up close, the Arc de Triomphe looks huge and very impressive, towering towards the sky.  It was inaugurated in 1836 to honor the war dead from the French Revolution and the Napoleonic wars and has the tomb of the unknown soldier from World War I.

I use to be very familiar of the surroundings as this was the neighborhood where I spent the majority of my student days, living on Rue Galilee,  not far from Place Étoile, now known as Place Charles De Gaulle.

At that time Le Drugstore  located at the beginning of the avenue, was the rage of tout Paris, imitating an American drugstore, yet very Frenchified to the hilt; where you could buy champagne and caviar till midnight everyday  if you had the budget for those sort of things.

We went there often for more plebian fare of hamburgers, then a novelty.  Bearing little resemblance to the humble American hamburger, these were thick mounds of rare ground beef perched atop a baguette type chewy “bun” topless a la Francaise, always eaten with a knife and fork, never with your hands!

From the outside it looked a little aged, and frankly I have not been inside in ages. The part of the Avenue from the Arc to George V was disappointingly not blocked off from cars.

The many outdoor terraces and cafés were brimming with people enjoying the warmth and views of Parisians and tourists passing by.

The whole avenue is 1.9 kilometers or about 1.2 miles long, so there was plenty of it still reserved to amble down the center if wished. I preferred walking the pretty wide sidewalks over the tar  and cobblestone pitted road, visibly very worn by tons of traffic all day and night!

It was really nice to cross freely to one side to another without fear of being hit and the quietness was also deafening strange to my ears!  Families on bicycles and kiddies with their foot scooters touting around were the only things to watch out for.

I stopped off to peer inside the hall leading into the renown Lido cabaret, where I have only attended once their fabulous show, that still attracts thousands.  Stopped by the guard who asked if I was attending the spectacle, he kindly allowed me to take a few photographs of the dimly lit entrance.

Guerlain the perfumeur, has a lovely and graceful boutique, which I did not go in to avoid being accosted by one of the many salespersons , however much I like their perfumes.

Along the side is a fairly new restaurant of Guy Martin, who overseas the kitchens at the majestic Grand Véfour at Palais Royal.

Crossing the street south of the George V metro to the southern edge, I did penetrate the opulent and very baroque Ladurée pastry and tea salon, which I consider a lovely place to meet someone “on the Avenue”, plus their bathroom is worth a look alone.

Their pastries are always divine, but I resisted buying one, knowing that I was going to make my own pastry “piece de resistance” when I got home.  Although all the pastries are exquisitely beautiful as you can see, I don’t allow myself to have two sweets in one day!

My favorite part of the Champs Élysées are the gardens on the northern side of the avenue nearer Place Concorde.  You have a spacious tree-lined terrace for some wonderful food and pastries from the famous Lenôtre central Paris kitchens and school.

This beautiful building was called the Pavillion Élysées, which was built in 1900 for the world’s universal exhibition.

They have several boutiques and schools throughout Paris, but this is the most elegant one, where you can take courses from the chef instructors, who carries on the name of founder Gaston Lenôtre, who died in 2009.

I always thought is was poignantly ironic that his name is the same as  the master creator of these gardens André LeNôtre.  How fitting that this chef and pastry maker, who trained many of today’s great pastry chefs was able to install himself in these hallowed ancestral lands, if by name only!

The lovely gardens  have been a favorite part of the Champs Élysées for me, as I prefer the quietness they offer, rather than the constant bustle and noise of the avenue.

Crossing to the other side again you will find the magnificent Petit Palais and Grand Palais, both of which were also built around the same time for the 1900 exhibition.

On the corner of the Grand Palais there was a colourful cross of red, white, and blue roses laying at the foot of the statue of Charles De Gaulle.

The Petit Palais houses a spectacular museum, whose permanent collection is marvelous and free everyday, where I often have bought articles in their excellent boutique.  They also have a cute café overlooking a central pond.

The Grand Palais always has various changing events and exhibits, all paying, but well worth getting in not only for the events but for the fabulous glass interiors.

Eric Frechon has a restaurant on the expansive balcony in back of the Grand Palais, called Le Mini Palais, which makes for a romantic place for aperitifs on a summer eve.

Nestled in the gardens behind the Petit Palais is the distinguished and extremely expensive bastion of Parisian gastronomy, Ledoyen.  The chef Yannick Alléno is currently considered one of the most talented  and with a dinner menu starting at 295 euros, it is also one of the most expensive.

I stopped to admire and take in the multitudes of  chestnut blossoms that hung heavily on all branches up and down both sides of the Champs. Their perfume was heady in the spring breeze.

They look like miniature multi tiered christmas trees, in either white or a pretty pink  orange. I can certainly see why these perfumed blossoms swayed songwriters to commemorate their Spring beauty in song.

Le Théâtre de Round Point is a pretty theater to see ballets, concerts and plays, and was recently where president Francois Hollande launched his very doubtful reelection campaign.

Beyond the manicured gardens on the northern side is the French presidential palace and also the United States of America Embassy, both extremely guarded with lines of police vehicles parked out front.

This is a corner view of the US Embassy, bordering Place Concorde, whereas any photographs of the entrance of this  fortress are strictly forbidden and I didn’t want to get chased out.

During my student days , fellow American students and I would often go to the cafeteria in the back on Rue du Faubourg Saint Honoré for simple American food when homesickness prevailed.  Nowadays that is impossible and you can only get in with appointments made well in advance for services to US citizens.

Le Grande Roue or ferris wheel is still in place in front of the entrance of the Tuileries gardens, which extends all the way to the Louvre, where you will find a smaller Arc de Triomphe.

Not wanting to end my Sunday stroll in such long awaited splendid warm weather, I opted to catch the bus to Pont Neuf, where multiple flower shops can be found along the Seine on Quai de la Mégisserie all the way to Châtelet.

It is one of my favourites short walks, as I am always interested in checking out plants and flowers at any time of the year.

Just across the Seine is the huge Conciergerie, with its multiple pointed turrets, was a former prison.   Its gothic interiors make for an interesting visit and you see the cell where  Marie Antoinette was imprisoned before her cruel death.

Yesterday I was especially keeping my eye out for petunias to replant some of my summer garden boxes that line almost every available inch of my balcony.  Ten petunia plants of mixed colours for ten euros was reasonable enough to take home.

I quickly checked out to see what was going on for the Fête de l’Europe taking place in front of Hôtel de Ville, but decided I better lug home my flowers as it was already after 4pm and my pastry awaited being put together.

Daughter Aimée had kindly agreed to make the pate brisée or pastry crust, so all I had to do was prebake  and then fill it with the lemon filling from freshly juiced lemons to bake some more.

Tarte aux Citrons is a real favourite and I ensure that you taste  bursts of tangy lemon rather than sugar, which too much of will definitely override any lemony flavour. I floated on top thin slices of two of my just harvested small lemons from my tree that I bought on the Italian coast over 8 years ago, still going strong!

The sun was still out, when I lit my candles  before dinner, which I do religiously, dark or not. My Sunday stroll was just another marvelous thing to feel grateful about, as I looked out onto the rooftops framed by  a golden glow from the slowly setting Western sun.

Though my tarte certainly didn’t have the polished glamorous look of a Ladurée creation, is was truly sublime and made for a perfect finale! Made with only freshly squeezed lemon juice, sugar, eggs and creme fraiche, it had a soft succulent silky creamy texture exploding with lemon!

Not all Sundays turn out perfect weather nor vistas like yesterday, but it is up to us to create whatever pleasures to gift ourselves and others to celebrate and offer thanks for the many blessings we  have in this life.