Paris’ traffic-clogged Champs-Elysees turned into a mass picnic blanket for an unusual meal
- Paris’ most famous street hosted a giant open-air picnic as organisers seek to reinvent boulevard
- Event on Sunday featured free packed meals from organisers’ eight partner restaurants
The French capital’s most famous street, the Champs-Elysees, transformed into a massive picnic blanket on Sunday as around 4,000 people sat in the sun enjoying an alfresco meal.
The lucky picnickers were selected via a draw and provided with free baskets loaded with delicacies from some top Paris chefs, including puff pastries and creative sandwiches.
The food was prepared in eight temporary kitchens set up along the avenue and provided by restaurants along the avenue, which include the famed Fouquet’s – as well as McDonald’s.
The aim of the event was to show that the Champs-Elysees, famous for its expensive boutiques and restaurants, was not only good for shopping, said Marc-Antoine Jamet, president of the organiser, the Champs-Elysees Committee.
“It’s a way of telling Parisians: ‘Come back to the Champs-Elysees’”, he said.
