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The Champs Elysees, one of the most famous streets in the world, runs the full length of the 8th Arrondissement - at it’s head stands the Arc de Triomphe, Napoleon’s enormous triumphal arch.

When it was built two hundred years ago the Arc stood just outside the city limits - now the eighth arrondissement is a very central, and very busy commercial centre, housing the French President’s official residence and both the British and American Embassies.

The Champs Elysees itself is an acquired taste - loud, crowded and a little undeserving of its fame. The southern-most stretch is the most rewarding - it’s here, surrounded by parkland, that you’ll find the Grand Palais and the Petit Palais, home to many of the world class art exhibitions that travel through the French capital.

At the very foot of the Avenue, on the edge of the district, is Place de la Concorde, a wide, traffic-filled square that played host to the guillotine during the years of unrest that followed the French Revolution. Nearby stands the Madeleine church, a long, beautiful neo-classical cathedral dedicated to France’s spiritual protector.

More Paris districts:

1st - Louvre 2nd - Bourse 3rd - Temple 4th - Islands 5th - Latin Quarter 6th - St Germain 7th - Eiffel Tower 8th - Champs Elysees 9th - Opera 10th - Gare du Nord Suburbs - les Banlieues

11th - Bastille 12th - Bercy 13th - Bibliotheque Nationale 14th - Montparnasse 15th - Vaugirard 16th - Trocadero 17th - Batignolles 18th - Montmartre 19th - Buttes-Chaumont 20th - Belleville Suburbs - La Defense