About This Location
Step off the noise of the avenue and into the Jardin des Champs-Élysées. These gardens are the “green rooms” of the Champs-Élysées - a place where Paris hides shade, fountains, statues, and quiet benches just a few steps from the traffic. This walk has deep roots. The first grand layout here was drawn in 1667 by André Le Nôtre, the same landscape designer linked with the great royal gardens of the era. What began as a formal promenade later changed character, and in the 1800s the gardens were reshaped into a more picturesque style with winding paths and groves, the kind of park design that invites wandering rather than marching in straight lines. Look around and notice how this is not “just” a park. The Grand Palais and Petit Palais sit inside the garden boundaries, born from the 1900 Exposition Universelle, when Paris used this entire district to impress the world with art, industry, and spectacle. It is a nice contrast - leafy paths outside, huge stone façades and glass roofs beside you, and the sense that the city planned this view like a stage set. Keep an eye out for the cultural side of the gardens too. Théâtre Marigny and Théâtre du Rond-Point sit here as part of the same landscape, continuing a tradition of entertainment that once included panorama shows and big public attractions. Even on an ordinary day, this area can feel like a calm corridor between major landmarks, with little surprises tucked behind trees.