Introducing Arc de Triomphe - Champs-Élysées

Locals might tut that lesser establishments have tainted the Champs-Élysées’s former grandeur, but if pressed, Parisians will agree that the most famous avenue in the world is still a pinnacle of taste and prestige.

In the couple of kilometers stretching up from the Place de la Concorde towards the Arc de Triomphe, exclusive fashion labels rub shoulders with waiting list-only restaurants run by legendary French chefs, and the nightclubs and cocktail bars host a carefully chosen clientele.

Residents browse new season Céline and while away hours in the behemoth Louis Vuitton flagship, before stopping at the city’s most elegant installment of Ladurée or venturing nearby to Rech, the Alain Ducasse-renovated Mediterranean seafood brasserie. Sunday’s brunch destination du jour is stylish Asian-inspired La Table du Lancaster.

In the evenings, streets empty and groups swell into restaurants like Eric Frechon’s Epicure, where coming by a table overlooking the courtyard is a feat, and Dominique Bouchet’s eponymous contemporary art-filled restaurant, where his transformative approach to classic French country cuisine makes any waiting list qualms forgettable.

Nights out in this neighbourhood are unlikely to be early ones, whether you start out with the champagne selection and cigar bar at the Blind Bar, part of the Martin Margiela-decorated Maison Champs Elysées, or cosy book-filled members club, the Saint James Club. Later on, Le Baron, the exclusive nightclub run by impresario André Saraiva, is the best place to observe Parisians dancing, flirting and pouting, mirroring the fun-seeking flaneurs of centuries past on the world's most famous avenue outside.