The Avenue des Champs-Elysées is the best known avenue in France, and possibly in the world. It stretches for just over a kilometre in length from the Arc de Triomphe to the Place de la Concorde.

The Avenue forms part of the Triumphal way from the Palace of Versailles to the old Palace of the French kings, in the Louvre. So it is a road that has existed for hundreds of years.

In 1667, King Louis XIV decided to beautify the way and ordered his landscaper Le Notre to plant chestnut trees to extend the royal road from the gardens of Les Tuileries, next to the Louvre.

By the Revolution the Avenue was well known. The Place de la Concorde - near Les Tuileries - was the setting for the grisly executions by the guillotine during the Reign of Terror in 1793. The Arc de Triomphe did not exist then, since it was not completed until 1836.

In the middle of the 19th century, Baron Haussmann's vision for Paris, the City of Light, ensured that this area was further beautified with many attractive buildings and shops which remain today.

The Avenue des Champs Elysées is a patriotic part of every French person. It is the setting for most the important events in France, both planned and unplanned. It serves as a spontaneous patriotic rallying place for Parisians

• On the Fête Nationale on July 14th, (Bastille Day), there is a military parade.
• The Tour de France, the most famous cycle race in the world, concludes each year with a sprint down this famous avenue.
• It was estimated that a million people surged through the avenue in spontaneous celebration when France won the Football World Cup in 1998.