XThousands of people gathered on the Champs-Élysées on Saturday, May 26, for a large, free picnic organized by a committee of local merchants and businesses fighting to prevent the slow decline of boulevard known as “the most beautiful road in the world”.
It used to be their favorite walk Parisians. In recent years the Elysian Fields often abandoned by locals, as the famous shops and cinemas gave way to luxury boutiques and the boulevard became the prerogative of wealthy tourists and residents of the French capital.
“It’s a Parisian way of saying: “Back to the Champs-Élysées”, to show them that the boulevard is not just for luxury shopping”said Marc-Antoine Jamet, head of the 180-member Champs-Elysees committee that organized the event.
Around 273,000 people applied to take part in ‘le grand pique-nique’, with 4,400 chosen to sit with six guests each on a 216m long red and white checkered picnic. blanket, as described by the organizers “the largest tablecloth in the world.”
Eight partner restaurants, including the noble brasserie Fouquet’s – for decades a home to French film and music stars – provide meals for two separate meetings, from ham baguettes to in caesar salads, vegetables and macarons.
“Thousands of people picnicking on one of the most famous boulevards in the world, because of the Arc de Triomphe – this is a truly popular and gourmet celebration”, said the guest of honor at the event, former Elysees chef Guillaume Gomez.
Picnics are exciting. “The sky is blue, the sun is out, we’re sitting in the middle of the Champs Elysées. We’re very lucky, aren’t we?Fabien, who made a special trip from outside Paris with his wife, Michelle, told BFM TV.
“And the picnic was great – I got a Ladurée macaron,” said Léo, 14.
The “decline” of the most famous boulevard in Paris
The committee has repeatedly warned that the iconic boulevard has “lost its luster” in the past 30 years, victimized by changing consumer behavior, but also by crises such as the yellow vest protests and the pandemic.
Last year the Champs-Élysées changed at an outdoor festival in the theme of the cinema with 1,800 offices placed along it, otherwise aiming to “reconvert” Parisians with the backdrop of countless films.
Many years have passed, however, since—as Franco-American singer Joe Dassin sang in a famous song in the late 1960s, when the boulevard was at the height of its popularity— “You can find everything you want on the Champs Elysées.”
THE The last cinema on the boulevard, the UGC Normandie, which opened in 1937, will close next monththe third cinema to close in recent years amid declining ticket sales and a significant change in the background of visitors to the avenue.
While entertainment venues and bookstores, record and clothing stores are disappearing, they are steadily being replaced by luxury sporting goods stores, where a boulevard address remains an important attraction – especially for tourists. .
French luxury group LVMH – owner of Louis Vuitton and Dior – paid more than 1 billion euros for the flagship store it recently acquired on the Champs Elyseesaccording to real estate agents, while surveys show that up to a quarter of all visits to the boulevard are now dedicated to buying goods from luxury brands.
Ronan Guevel, who has lived on the boulevard for more than 20 years, told France Info radio: “When I was young, we loved going to the Champs cinema. There must be seven or eight on the avenue. Now the last one is leaving.”
Another cinema was recently replaced by a Lacoste sporting goods store, Guevel said: “The shops and places that Parisians use for leisure and walking have been replaced by brands that you can find everywhere. The Champs-Élysées have lost a little of their soul and charm.”
The steep rise in rents
With more than 1.3 million people walking the boulevard every month, property prices have soared, forcing smaller independent and less profitable shops and venues to give up their keys before the rents have increased by 15% in the last year alone.
“Speculation in the real estate market is the big issue”said Paris councilor Nicolas Bonnet-Oulaldj. “The price per square meter is too high. We must ask the Government for help in regulating and controlling the rents in this part of the city.’
Paris city hall is working on a €250 million plan to transform an eight-lane urban highway into a “spectacular garden,” but most of the work won’t start before the Olympics in summer.
Some minor improvements to the boulevard were also made before the Olympics, with grades rearranged along it and more space available for pedestrians.
The Champs-Élysées committee itself presented on Monday, May 27, a 1,800-page report with 150 proposals to transform the boulevard, aiming to lead a more radical and comprehensive transformation .
However, it seems that Parisians take the diversity growing in their city very seriously and are trying in every way to reverse it.