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de l’Étoile), the world’s largest traffic roundabout and the meeting point of 12 avenues (and three arrondissements). It was commissioned in 1806 by Napoleon to commemorate his imperial victories but remained unfinished when he started losing – at first battles and then whole wars. It was finally completed under Louis-Philippe in 1836. Among the armies to march triumphantly through the Arc de Triomphe were the Germans in 1871, the Allies in 1919, the Germans again in 1940 and the Allies again in 1944.

The most famous of the four high-relief panels at the base is to the right, facing the arch from the av des Champs-Élysées side. Entitled Départ des Volontaires de 1792 (Departure of the Volunteers of 1792) and also known as La Marseillaise (France’s national anthem), it is the work of François Rude. Higher up, a frieze running around the whole monument depicts hundreds of figures, each one 2m high.

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TRANSPORT: ÉTOILE & CHAMPS-ÉLYSÉES

Bus av des Champs-Élysées for 73 to La Défense (west) & Musée d’Orsay (east), for 42 to Grands Boulevards, Opéra & Gare du Nord

Metro Champs-Élysées Clemenceau, Charles De Gaulle-Étoile, Franklin D Roosevelt, George V

Boat Champs-Élysées Batobus stop (Port des Champs-Élysées)

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From the viewing platform on top of the arch (50m up via 284 steps and well worth the climb) you can see the dozen broad avenues – many of them named after Napoleonic victories and illustrious generals – radiating towards every compass point. Av de la Grande Armée heads northwest to the skyscraper district of La Défense, where the Grande Arche, a hollow cube measuring 110m on each side, defines the western end of the Grand Axe (the ‘Great Axis’ linking the Louvre and the Arc de Triomphe). Tickets to the viewing platform of the Arc de Triomphe are sold in the underground passageway that surfaces on the even-numbered side of av des Champs-Élysées. It is the only sane way to get to the base of the arch and is not linked to nearby metro tunnels.

AVENUE DES CHAMPS-ÉLYSÉES Map

Charles de Gaulle-Étoile, George V, Franklin D Roosevelt or Champs-Élysées Clemenceau

Av des Champs-Élysées (the name refers to the ‘Elysian Fields’ where happy souls dwelt in the hereafter, according to Greek myth) links place de la Concorde with the Arc de Triomphe. The avenue has symbolised the style and joie de vivre of Paris since the mid-19th century and remains a popular tourist destination.

Some 400m north of av des Champs-Élysées is rue du Faubourg St-Honoré (8e), the western extension of rue St-Honoré. It has renowned couture houses, jewellers, antique shops and the 18th-century Palais de l’Élysée (cnr rue du Faubourg St-Honoré & av de Marigny, 8e; Champs-Élysées Clemenceau), which is the official residence of the French president.

At the bottom of av des Champs-Élysées, on place Clemenceau, is a 3.6m-tall bronze statue of General Charles de Gaulle in full military gear ready to march down the broad avenue to the Arc de Triomphe in a liberated Paris on 26 August 1944.

GRAND PALAIS Map

01 44 13 17 17, reservations 08 92 68 46 94; www.grandpalais.fr, in French; 3 av du Général Eisenhower, 8e; with/without booking adult €11/10, student & 13-25yr €10/8, under 13yr free; 10am-10pm Fri-Mon & Wed, to 8pm Thu; Champs-Élysées Clemenceau

The ‘Great Palace’, erected for the 1900 Exposition Universelle, houses the Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais beneath its huge Art Nouveau glass roof. Special exhibitions, among the biggest the city stages, last three or four months. You’ll understand just how popular most of the exhibitions here are – and the importance of booking in advance – when you see the queues (especially at the weekend) looping halfway round the building.

PETIT PALAIS Map

01 53 43 40 00; www.petitpalais.paris.fr, in French; av Winston Churchill, 8e; temporary exhibits adult/14-26yr/senior & student €9/4.50/6.50, permanent collections free, under 14yr free; 10am-6pm Wed-Sun, to 8pm Tue; Champs-Élysées Clemenceau

The ‘Little Palace’, like the Grand Palais opposite also built for the 1900 Exposition