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Paris’s grand avenue was first laid out when Marie de Médici, wife of Henri IV, had a carriage route, the Cours-la-Reine (Queen’s Way), constructed through the marshland along the Seine.

Landscape gardener Le Nôtre lengthened the Jardin des Tuileries to meet the Cours-la-Reine, and opened up the view with a double row of chestnut trees, creating the Grand Cours.

The avenue was re-named the Champs-Elysées (Elysian Fields). In Greek mythology, the Elysian Fields were the “place of ideal happiness”, the abode of the blessed after death.

The Duke of Antin, overseer of the royal gardens, extended the avenue to the heights of Chaillot, the present site of the Arc de Triomphe.

The Marquis of Marigny extended the avenue again, this time all the way to the Neuilly bridge over the Seine, the stretch of street now called avenue Charles-de-Gaulle.

Architect Jacques-Germain Soufflot lowered the hill of the Champs-Elysées by 5 m (16 ft) to reduce the steep gradient, therefore making an easier and safer passage for residents’ horses and carriages.

On 14 July every year Parisians celebrate Bastille Day to commemorate the start of the French Revolution (see 14 July 1789). There are marching bands, military processions and Air Force jets fly overhead. In late July, “les Champs” is also the final stretch for the Tour de France bicycle race.

Parisians celebrated the liberation of the city from the German Nazi Occupation of World War II with triumphant processions and festivities.

The infamous student demonstrations of May 1968, when riotous students protested against state authority, spilled over to massive gatherings. The demonstration here, at one of the city’s main focal points, captured world news.

The death of President Charles de Gaulle was an immense event in France, as he had been the single most dominant French political figure for 30 years. He was honoured by a silent march along the Champs-Elysées.