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The Champs-Elysees is known to most as "la plus belle avenue du monde", French for "the most beautiful avenue in the world"! It's name means "the Elysian Fields", for it's start in the late 18th century as a series of market gardens. Claimed by the city of Paris in 1828, the Champs-Elysees is now home to cafes, designer stores, cinemas, and rows of lush chestnut trees. It's no wonder this street is one of the planet's most expensive strips of real estate.

Between 300,000 and half-a-million people walk the Champs-Elysees' sidewalk every day, and more recently a handful of American brands have been making a distinct mark on the avenue, including McDonalds, Banana Republic, Levi's, Gap, Abercrombie & Fitch, and Nike!

The Champs-Elysees is home to several monuments, most notably the Arc de Triomphe. Inscribed with the names of every victory and general from the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, this stunning monument to those who fought and died for France is a sight to be seen. The Arc even had a film named after it in 1948 starring Ingrid Bergman, which was remade for television in the 80s with Anthony Hopkins. Pretty cool!