It may be called the most beautiful avenue in the world, but these days Parisians tend to steer clear of les Champs-Élysées. With another famed cinema – the UGC Normandie – having now closed its doors, we look at how the Champs came to be, what it is now, and why many want to change it drastically.
This Entre Nous aired on Paris Direct, June 14, 2024. A programme produced by Amanda Alexander, Marina Pajovic and Georgina Robertson.
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This Entre Nous aired on Paris Direct, June 14, 2024. A programme produced by Amanda Alexander, Marina Pajovic and Georgina Robertson.
Visit our website:
http://www.france24.com
Like us on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/FRANCE24.English
Follow us on Twitter:
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NewsTranscript
00:00And I'm joined in the studio now by Solange Mougin, because Solange, look, the closing
00:05of this cinema is one of a rather particular dynamic that we see on the Champs-Élysées
00:11where some businesses are booming, doing really well, others not at all. What's the problem
00:16and what's so particular on the Champs-Élysées?
00:17Well, first and foremost, it's the Champs, the iconic avenue that some call the most
00:22beautiful in the world. Now, after the Eiffel Tower, it is arguably the symbol of Paris.
00:28The rent prices there are, according to the firm Knight-Frank, three to five times higher
00:34than other tourist, busy tourist areas in the capital. Shop spaces go for around 15,000
00:40euros for one single square meter. Now, investment firms, Qatari funds, luxury brands that own
00:47or rent many of the buildings on the Champs know this, know that 10 million people come
00:54to it every year, but nearly all of them are tourists.
00:58From Bangkok, Thailand. Boston, United States. Reykjavik, Iceland.
01:04Ambergique. We're visiting Paris.
01:08This is the first place that we choose to come here.
01:12Delightful, the food, the people, the atmosphere.
01:17I love the buildings. The architecture is beautiful.
01:21Now, you won't find many Parisians on the Champs-Élysées today.
01:25Only around 5% of those walking along it are Parisians.
01:29It is largely snubbed by the people who live here as a polluted, big thoroughfare filled
01:36with big brand names and few cultural sites.
01:39So as the fifth most expensive avenue in the world, it has many of the same issues that
01:45others like it have, like Fifth Avenue, New York, Orchard Road in Singapore.
01:50It's become, to some, the epitome of excess, be it cars, consumerism, globalization and tourism.
01:57It wasn't always thus, though, Solange.
02:00Parisians didn't used to give it a cold shoulder.
02:03In fact, it used to be quite happening, didn't it, the Champs-Élysées?
02:05It was, just like in the famous song by Joe Dassin.
02:09And even actually more so in the choice of its actual name.
02:12Its namesake is the Elysian Fields in Greek mythology.
02:16The Champs-Élysées used to be a place that Parisians really wanted to go to.
02:21Nearly two kilometers in length and some 70 meters wide, it has been a major road for
02:26over 350 years.
02:28In 1670, King Louis XIV, he wanted a road that could travel from the Louvre Palace to
02:33Versailles, but it was swampland and actually was quite dangerous and with bandits.
02:39And it was actually also quite smelly with lots of sewage.
02:42So his gardener, Le Nôtre, created this road.
02:45And then during the revolution, it was actually along the avenue that many women, thousands
02:51of women, came asking for bread during the revolution.
02:54But at that point, it was a road.
02:56It wasn't until the 1830s that it became a place to enjoy the good life, both during
03:01the day, but also at night as it had gas lamps all along it.
03:06And this shows the extent to which today's Christmas light ceremony on the Champs and
03:10also other major cultural gatherings are tied to it.
03:15It is still the place where on the 14th of July, on Bastille Day, the national day, a
03:20military parade is held, except because of this year, because of the Olympics.
03:24It's also where protests sometimes break out, as we saw with the Yellow Vest Movement.
03:29And it's also where people gather after France wins major soccer matches.
03:34But in the day to day, it is above all a major roadway for cars.
03:38So that means there is pollution, there's noise.
03:40And aside from the tourists who come because of its historic weight, well, there are very
03:45few unique shops.
03:46Right.
03:47But there are efforts now, Solange, to try and change that.
03:49Yeah.
03:50Interestingly enough, it's actually a push that is largely coming from the private sector,
03:55which in itself creates a debate over private influence on public spaces.
04:00But nonetheless, the Committee of the Champs-Élysées, which is a non-profit organization that has
04:05over a century, for over a century, represented businesses along the avenue.
04:11They've submitted 150 proposals.
04:13They did this last month, too, and gave them to the Paris mayor's office.
04:16Their five year, five million euro study essentially mapped out a project to reduce traffic to
04:22two lanes and make it much more walkable and greener.
04:25It would cost hundreds of millions of euros, begin after the Olympic Games.
04:30With cinemas closing and small businesses long gone, Paris has actually pushed for a
04:35change as well.
04:36Who knows if a park promenade can really actually counterbalance the high rents there.
04:41But there is an argument for it because Parisians do go often to one-off events on the Champs,
04:47be it a recent giant spelling bee, a picnic all along the avenue, or the nearly monthly
04:52Sundays when it is entirely walkable.
04:56So who knows?
04:57We all may be one day singing, oh, Champs-Élysées.
04:59I hope so, Solange.
05:01Thanks very much indeed.
05:02Great to talk to you, Solange Marjan, for us there.