O, Champs-Elysées!

In my opinion, there's no better time to visit the Champs-Elysées (sham-pz ell-ee-zay: literally translated as heavenly fields )--the famous Parisian shopping district--than in December. The bare chestnut trees lined up along the avenue are decorated in twinkle-lights, all the magasins (ma-guh-zon: shops) have a little bit of Christmas cheer on display in their windows, and then of course there's the marché de Noël (marsh-ay duh no-ell: Christmas market) where, if you're brave enough to charge your way through crowds of tourists and Christmas shoppers, is full of knick-knacks, sure, but most importantly mulled wine, crêpes au chocolat (kre-p oh shok-oh-la: pancakes filled with chocolate) and gauffres (go-fruh: waffles) which for some reason in France are 100 times better than waffles in the US.

Unfortunately, if you don't like crowds, Champs-Elysées is not for you, during December or any other time of year. I have no idea why, but the Champs is chartered holy ground on the Parisian landscape and so native Parisians and camera-wielding sightseers alike make stiletto-clad pilgrimages here in the thousands every day of the week, as ironically the Champs is also the only street in France that seems to have stores open on les dimanches (lay dee-mansh: Sundays).

I don't think it's the Arc de Triumph (ark duh tree-umf) that opens up the entry of the Champs or La Grande Roue (lah grahn-d roo: a huge ferris wheel in Paris) on the other end--which for some reason never seems to be moving when I see it--that attracts so many here. No, I think it's really, honestly the shopping. Even though the street has become über-commercialized and lost it's former unique French-ness that made it what it was, everything a shopper wants is here: H&M, Nike, Sephora, not to mention some of the priciest but also most delicious (à la Ladurée) cafés in all of Paris.

Ok, sure, these stores exist on every corner on Earth and a good pastry isn't really that hard to find, especially when you're willing to spend $50 on it, but how many malls do you know of that also have chestnut trees?! And twinkle lights?! And a big cement arc?! It's unique, I tell you!

If you don't believe me, the entire Champs-Elsyées experience has even been immortalized into a song by France's beloved French-American folksy singer Joe Dassin in his delightful « Aux Champs-Elysées » (oh cham-pz ell-ee-zay), an ode to this much beloved stick-straight avenue in the heart of Paris. In case you don't know the lyrics, I can sum it up just so:

« While singing along the avenue Champs-Elysées, I feel like saying hello to perfect strangers. I just want to talk, doesn't matter what about, just to have a good time. Champs-Elysées is perfect in sun, rain, at noon or midnight; everything you're looking for is found here... »

Then in more typical French fashion, silly Joe Dassin goes on to point out how he started singing and dancing with some new-found amis (ah-mee: friends) in middle of the sidewalk, but I don't want to give anyone the wrong idea: nobody will be singing or dancing when you come. This is Paris, after all. I mean, I'll give Joe the benefit of the doubt: he was famous back in the '70s, so I'm sure one of his many acid trips turned into a musical ensemble in front Cartier, but things have changed a bit since then. Still, the point is that Champs, while crowded, still holds the heart of most people who come here. And there's a music video to prove it: