Tours and detours in the Champs-Elysées and Tuileries gardens

Start at the Rond-point des Champs-Élysées, at the Franklin Roosevelt metro station (lines 1 and 9). Take exit 5 Avenue Franklin Roosevelt.

(S) When you exit the metro station, head straight ahead. Cross the pedestrian crossings, first the street on the right that goes around the roundabout, then Avenue Franklin Roosevelt. Take the small alleyway on the right and walk along the Théâtre du Rond-Point on your right. At the end, turn right. Do not cross Avenue de Selves; instead, turn sharply right onto Avenue du Général Eisenhower, leaving the entrance to the Grand Palais on your left.

At the crossroads, follow Avenue Franklin Roosevelt to the left and walk past the Palais de la Découverte on your left (note the fresco above). At the corner of the palace, continue straight ahead along the avenue and pass a fountain on your left with sculpted decorations.

(1) Immediately afterwards, turn left into the Jardin de la Nouvelle France (red and white^GR®2marker). Go down a few steps and pass under a faux stone arch. Immediately afterwards, turn left, walk along a pond on your left and pass under a bridge. At the end of the path, turn right and join the Cours de la Reine. Follow this avenue to the left and walk alongside the Grand Palais on your left.

At the corner, note the two majestic plane trees on the left around a small pond. Continue straight ahead and cross Avenue Winston Churchill at the traffic lights (note the view on the right of the Pont Alexandre III decorated with the golden Chevaux de Marly, and the golden dome of Les Invalides). Turn immediately left, walk past the foot of the statue of Winston Churchill and reach the entrance to the Petit Palais.

(2) Climb the stairs and enter the building (free admission, see practical information). Then turn right into a large hall and find a glass door on the left that opens onto the interior garden. Walk around the garden and take the exit on the opposite side. N.B. On the right, free access to the exhibition rooms. Return to the entrance and go down the stairs leading to the exit via the shop (follow the signs). Finally, go down the outside stairs.

(2) Turn right and walk along the avenue. Just before the roundabout, turn right and walk past the statue of Georges Clemenceau (note the statue of Charles de Gaulle on the left, on the other side of the avenue). Cross the Avenue des Champs Élysées at the traffic lights. Go around the restaurant on the left, leaving a fountain on your left, and you will arrive in front of the Grille du Coq (on the other side of the gate are the gardens of the Élysée Palace).

(3) Follow the avenue to the right. After about 50 metres, turn right into the Jardins des Champs Élysées. At the three-way junction immediately ahead, take the Allée Marcel Proust on the left. At the next crossroads, continue straight ahead. Go around a pond with a fountain on the right and walk along the Théâtre de la Ville on your left. At the end of the building, you will come to a crossroads of paths. Take the^{second path} on the right, which runs diagonally and, after passing a Wallace fountain, leads to Place de la Concorde (Chevaux de Marly without gilding).

At the traffic lights, cross the avenue that circles the square. Then cross a central reservation and, at the traffic lights, cross the central avenue of the square in two stages. You will arrive at the centre of the square, at the foot of the obelisk on your right and the fountain of the rivers on your left.

(4) Continue in the same direction and cross the opposite lane of the central avenue. Cross another traffic island and then turn right to reach the entrance gate to the Tuileries Garden. Go straight ahead and you will arrive at the edge of the Octagonal Basin.

Go around the basin on the left and note the many statues around it. Cross the Central Path at the foot of the statues of Hannibal and Julius Caesar. Continue a few metres around the basin, then turn left to reach the stairs at the foot of the terrace where the Musée de l'Orangerie is located.

Climb the stairs and, at the top, turn right. At the fork immediately ahead, turn right and leave two statues by Rodin on your left. At the end of the path, turn left (view of the Concorde) and pass the entrance to the Orangerie (another statue by Rodin on the right).

Then turn left and walk along the Orangerie on your left. At the end, continue straight ahead onto the terrace. Go down the stairs and turn right to leave the Tuileries. Cross Quai Aimé Césaire at the traffic lights and take the Passerelle Léopold Sédar Senghor footbridge (marked on the stone with its former name, Pont de Solférino). In the middle, there is a beautiful view of the Seine and the surrounding museums.

(5) Retrace your steps, cross the quay again and return to the garden. Follow the Allée de Castiglione opposite for a few metres. Take a small path on the right and walk along the left-hand side of a plot with the Arbre aux Voyelles, a large statue of a fallen tree trunk. At the small triumphal arch on the right-hand side, turn left. At the next crossroads, turn right and walk along a small pond on your left. At the end, go around a restaurant on the right, come to a crossroads and continue straight ahead.

At the next crossroads, turn left and head towards the Grand Bassin Rond. Go around the pond on the left or right and continue along the path opposite, passing between the Centaur statue on the left and the Minotaur statue on the right. Take the first path on the right and go around a small pond on the left (statue of a tiger and crocodile on the left). After turning three-quarters of the way around, veer left and join the Allée Centrale.

Follow the path on the left, go up a staircase and leave the Tuileries Garden. Continue straight ahead on the former site of the Tuileries Palace and you will arrive at the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel.

(6) Pass under the triumphal arch and go around the roundabout on the right. Cross at the traffic lights and continue towards the Louvre Pyramid. Go around this glass monument on the right and head to the back of the courtyard towards the Sully Building. Climb the stairs, pass under a porch and enter the Cour Carrée through its west entrance. Cross the courtyard and leave it opposite through its east exit (porch). Cross the former moat and then the Avenue de l'Amiral de Coligny at the pedestrian crossing.

You will come out onto Place du Louvre with, opposite you, from left to right, the town hall of^{the 1st} arrondissement of Paris, its bell tower and the Church of Saint-Germain l'Auxerrois. Go around the church on the right and follow Rue des Prêtes Saint-Germain l'Auxerrois. At the end, turn left onto Rue de l'Arbre Sec (note the carved frieze depicting carp at the chevet of the church).

At the traffic lights, turn left, cross Rue Perrault and follow Rue de Rivoli to the junction with Avenue du Général de Coligny, where you will find the Louvre-Rivoli metro station (E).

To return home:
- Metro - Line 1.
- Bus - Lines 21, 67, 69, 72, 74, 85.

Trainers are sufficient for this route, which is entirely on gravel paths or tarmac roads. The time indicated is walking time, which does not include the numerous breaks that can be taken, any visits and, quite simply, time spent strolling.

Toilets and drinking fountains along the route are shown on the map. Bars and snack bars can be found in the inner garden of the Petit Palais, on the edge of the Champs Élysées near the Place de la Concorde, and in the Tuileries Garden.

Opening hours for public places:
Petit Palais - Open Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Free access to the interior garden and permanent collections. On a voluntary basis, visitors can pay a "donation" ticket of €2 per person (price in November 2017). N.B. Due to anti-terrorism measures, bags and pockets are checked: avoid carrying items such as pocket knives, scissors, etc.
Champs-Élysées Gardens - Open 24 hours a day.
Tuileries Gardens
- Opening hours: 7.30am from October to March; 7am from April to September.
- Closing times: 7:30 p.m. from October to March; 9:00 p.m. in September, April and May; 11:00 p.m. from June to August.

There are many different routes through the gardens, provided you have a detailed map (such as the one accompanying this description).

The author has completed this walk three times, the first on 17 November 2017 and the last on 9 April 2022.

Between the Rond-point des Champs-Élysées (S) and the Grille du Coq (3):
- The Grand Palais. Built in 1897 for the 1900 World's Fair, it features a monumental 240-metre-long nave topped by a large glass roof. Listed as a historic monument, it regularly hosts internationally renowned art exhibitions.
- The Jardin de la Nouvelle France, at the corner of the Grand Palais, with its imitation rocks and small pond. Busts of Jacques Cartier and Samuel Champlin, the navigators who discovered Canada.
- View of the Pont Alexandre III, the Chevaux de Marly and the Dôme des Invalides.
- The Petit Palais. Also built for the 1900 World's Fair, it is located opposite the Grand Palais. Managed by the City of Paris, it has a permanent collection of paintings (including some beautiful Courbets) and temporary exhibitions.
- Statues of three famous statesmen: Georges Clemenceau (1841-1929), Winston Churchill (1874-1965) and Charles de Gaulle (1890-1970).
- Grille du Coq, behind which lies the garden of the Élysée Palace.

In the gardens of the Champs-Élysées, from (3) to (4):
- Several remarkable trees.
- Fountain.

Place de la Concorde (4):
- Around the square: grand 18th-century hotels.
- On the outer circle - Street lamps with columns decorated with ancient galley rostra. Statues representing certain cities in France: Brest, Rouen, Lille, Strasbourg, Lyon, Marseille, Bordeaux and stream.
- In the central square - Fountain of the Rivers to the north and Fountain of the Seas to the south. Luxor Obelisk in the centre (13th century BC, gifted by Egypt to France in the early 19th century). Standing 23 metres tall, its hieroglyphics glorify Pharaoh Ramses II.

In the Tuileries Garden and nearby, between (4) and (6):
- Ponds.
- Musée de l'Orangerie.
- Numerous statues: characters from Greek mythology, animal scenes, reproductions of Rodin (including the famous Kiss), etc.
- From the Léopold Sédar Senghor footbridge, beautiful view of the Seine and the surrounding museums: Grand Palais, Louvre, Musée d'Orsay.

Between the Carrousel Gardens (6) and the Louvre-Rivoli station (E):
- Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel. Built in 1809, it celebrates the victory of Napoleon Bonaparte's Grande Armée at Austerlitz (2 December 1805). Standing to the east of the monument (towards the Louvre) and looking west, you can see the famous Arc du Carrousel perspective. - Obelisk of the Concorde - Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile, with the towers of La Défense in the background. To fully enjoy it, however, there must be no fog or too many people... And, depending on the season and whether or not agreements have been made with the Paris City Council, you get the Ferris wheel as a "bonus"...
- Statues by Aristide Mayol (1861-1944).
- Louvre Pyramid, built in 1988 and designed by Leoh Ming Pei (1917-).
- Square courtyard of the Louvre.
- Former moat of the Louvre Palace.
- Place du Louvre, sculptures by Eduardo Chillida Juantegui (1924-2002).
- Bell tower of the town hall of the 1st arrondissement (1861).
- Saint-Germain l'Auxerrois Church (13th-15th century). Opening hours: Tuesday to Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., and Sunday from 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. (no visits during services).
- The Louvre-Rivoli metro station is beautifully decorated with reproductions of statues from the Louvre Museum, from all periods.