Champs Elysees Paris
There are two sides to every street and the Champs Elysees is no exception. However, this most-famous of Paris avenues is not so much divided from one side of the street to the other, as it is from one end to the other. The lower section, which runs from the place de la Concorde (with breathtaking views along the whole length of the avenue) to the Rond-Point des Champs-Elysees, is a veritable park shaded by imposing chestnut trees. On the left are the Grand and Petit Palais, two temples of the arts, while on the right is a monument to the French Resistance hero, Jean Moulin, who was reburied in the Pantheon. The upper, "modern", section stretches from the Rond-Point, to the Arc de Triomphe. The glamour of the upper end may not be quite what it was, dominated as it is by airline offices, car showrooms, and banks. But there's still the Lido cabaret, Fouquet's high-class bar and restaurant, and plenty of cinemas and boutiques.

This is where Parisians still come to celebrate Christmas, New Years, the arrival of the Tour de France, the Paris Marathon and the 14th of July - France's national day.