Fouquet's and the Belle Époque Champs-Élysées
Why is it significant?
On the corner of the Avenue George V, look for the red awnings and the golden lettering of Fouquet's. Waiters in long white aprons and a heated terrace facing the endless traffic. This corner has been the drawing room of the Champs-Élysées for over a century.
Key Facts
| Place | Fouquet's and the Belle Époque Champs-Élysées |
|---|---|
| Address | 99 Avenue des Champs-Élysées, 75008 Paris, France |
| Geo Coordinates | 48.87140, 2.30120 |
| Part of Walk | Triumph and Guillotine: The Champs-Élysées from the Arc de Triomphe to Concorde, Paris |
| Generated | Generated |
On the corner of the Avenue George V, look for the red awnings and the golden lettering of Fouquet's. Waiters in long white aprons and a heated terrace facing the endless traffic. This corner has been the drawing room of the Champs-Élysées for over a century.
The avenue itself began as a garden idea. In 1667 André Le Nôtre, the gardener of Versailles, extended the view from the Tuileries westwards with double rows of trees across fields and marshes. For decades it was a muddy promenade where it was wise not to walk alone at night. Only in the nineteenth century did it fill with mansions, cafés and theatres, then with carriages and, at last, with motor cars. The poetic name, the Elysian Fields, the paradise of heroes in Greek myth, came in the early eighteenth century.
Fouquet's opened in 1899, when a waiter named Louis Fouquet took over a simple café and gave it his name with an English-style apostrophe, because English things were fashionable. First came the smart set of the Belle Époque, then actors, directors and producers. For decades the French film world held its big dinners here, including the one after the César awards.
Fouquet's has also lived through the political storms of the avenue. In 2007 a newly elected president, Nicolas Sarkozy, celebrated his victory here with rich friends, and the evening haunted him for the rest of his term. In March 2019, during the yellow vest protests, the restaurant was looted and set on fire. It reopened a few months later, and the awnings were red again.
The building is protected as a historic monument, precisely so that it could never be swallowed by yet another flagship store. On an avenue where rents are among the highest in Europe, that protection is the only reason a brasserie can still occupy such a corner. Now carry on down the avenue for a few blocks, keeping to this side.