Avenue Des Champs Elysees, Paris, France
- Categories
- Special Collections > Keystone Slides
- Type
- tiff scanned file from original glass slide
- Description
- The great city of Paris lies on both sides of the River Seine. The larger portion lies on the northern side of the river. The finest street and the chief thoroughfare is a long avenue that runs from southwest to northeast. Parts of this avenue bear different names, but it is all one highway. One section is the Champs Elysees (shän´ z´ l´ z´) that is, the "Elysian Fields." The Champs Elysees is over a mile in length. Two lines of trees border the roadway and shade the sidewalks. But no grass is to be seen anywhere. This is the fashionable drive and walk of Paris. In the afternoon and evening automobiles and carriages line the streets in great processions. Strollers parade the sidewalks. Beneath the trees there are all kinds of amusements. Swings, merry-go-rounds, Punch-and-Judy shows, vaudeville performances, dancing, sleight of hand jugglers-the whole street is a world of amusement in itself. You can sit at one of the tables under the trees and be served with food and drinks. Here you can enjoy the passing show of fine vehicles or watch the strollers display their new suits and dresses. A few feet away a crowd of children are laughing at the antics of Punch and Judy. Beyond, another crowd is waiting to clamber on a little merry-go-round. This is Paris-the fair city of a smiling people. But it has not always been thus on this street. Down this avenue kings and queens have been dragged to dungeon or to the headsman's axe. Soldiers have fought here with the French mobs, and the street has rumbled with the wheels of the carts carrying away the executed. Some day you will read the dreadful story of the French Revolution and then you will recall this scene of the Champs Elysees. Keystone ID: 1641 Note: All titles, descriptions, and location coordinates are from the original Keystone Slide documentation as supplied by the Keystone View Company. No text has been edited or changed.
- Rights
- Copyright by the Keystone View Company. The original slides are housed in McConnell Library's Special Collections.
