• On May 11, the Paris City Hall and the Champs-Élysées committee presented their urban planning project to "Re-enchant the Champs-Élysées".

  • The city will invest 24 million euros to carry out works, extend the Tuileries gardens and reduce traffic around the Arc de Triomphe.

  • As envisaged by the city of Paris, some tourists would like to see fewer cars on the Champs-Elysées.

  • "The avenue can certainly be improved, but I think it's important to keep it as close as possible to what it was originally", considers Loïs, a Spanish tourist.

“I would like it to be better maintained,” says a tourist.

"There are too many cars," said another.

And even, “there are too many tourists, adds a Dane passing through the capital.

You can recognize them by their big backpack.

If Parisians are not always kind to the Avenue des Champs-Elysées, international tourists are also choosy.

They do not miss an opportunity to remind that the avenue sung by Joe Dassin is not up to their expectations.

"It's far from being the most beautiful place in Paris," says Tobias, who came from Copenhagen.

Last week, the Paris City Hall and the Champs-Élysées Committee presented their urban transformation project to "Re-enchant the Champs-Élysées".

Extension of the Tuileries Garden, reduction of traffic around the Arc de Triomphe and numerous works planned to bring Parisians back to the avenue.

The first works begin this month.

20 Minutes

went to meet foreign tourists to find out their expectations for the "most beautiful avenue in the world".

“The view is ruined by all these cars”

“It's not as pretty as everyone says, regrets Jamie.

It's just a big avenue with lots of cars.

This young Londoner saw his walk on the Champs Elysées as a disillusion.

“We can't even see the avenue, the view is spoiled by all these cars,” he adds.

"It does not correspond to what we imagine, to the way books and films portray it," confirms Loïs, a Spanish tourist.

We often forget that Paris is an important capital, where there are a lot of people.

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The proximity of cars as well as the noise and pollution they cause put tourists off.

"I much prefer to go for a walk in the small streets of the 5th arrondissement, which have much more charm", comments Tobias.

The Danish tourist says he is particularly enthusiastic about the Paris City Hall's project to reduce the place of the car along the avenue.

"It could make a real difference if there weren't so many cars", confirms a Spanish tourist.

Keep the avenue "as originally"

But not all tourists are thrilled with the work planned by Paris City Hall.

“The avenue can certainly be improved, but it seems important to me to keep it as close as possible to what it was originally, considers Loïs.

She has quite a story, and it would be a shame to lose that.

He concedes that a little more maintenance of the sidewalks and trees along the Champs-Élysées would be a good thing.

"It's a very pretty avenue," maintains an Israeli couple.

Seeing the visuals of the work planned on the Champs-Élysées, the tourist hastens to affirm that she “prefers as it is now”.

Even if the avenue is not exactly as she imagined, she wouldn't change a thing.

Finally, she would still like to have the luxury boutiques open on Mondays.

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Paris is investing 24 million euros to "re-enchant the Champs-Elysées" and bring Parisians back to the avenue

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  • Paris

  • Champs-Elysees

  • Town planning

  • Tourism

  • Works

  • Ile-de-France