The mayor of Paris has said a €250 million (US$302m) makeover of the Champs-Elysees will go ahead, though the ambitious transformation will not happen before the French capital hosts the 2024 Summer Olympics.

Anne Hidalgo said the planned work, unveiled in 2019 by local community leaders and businesses, would turn the 1.9 km stretch of central Paris into “an extraordinary garden.”

The Champs-Elysees committee has been campaigning for a major redesign of the avenue and its surroundings since 2018.

“The legendary avenue has lost its splendor during the last 30 years. It has been progressively abandoned by Parisians and has been hit by several successive crises: the gilets jaunes, strikes, health and economic,” the committee said in a statement welcoming Hidalgo’s announcement.

“It’s often called the world’s most beautiful avenue, but those of us who work here every day are not at all sure about that,” Jean-Noel Reinhardt, the committee president, said in 2019. “The Champs-Elysees has more and more visitors and big-name businesses battle to be on it, but to French people it’s looking worn out.”

The committee held a public consultation over what should be done with the avenue. The plans include reducing space for vehicles by half, turning roads into pedestrian and green areas, and creating tunnels of trees to improve air quality.

The Champs-Elysees’ name is French for the mythical Greek paradise, the Elysian Fields. It was originally a mixture of swamp and kitchen gardens.

Andre Le Notre, Louis XIV the Sun King’s gardener, first designed the wide promenade lined with a double row of elm trees on each side, called the Grand Cours.

It was renamed the Champs-Elysees in 1709 and extended, and by the end of the century had become a popular place to walk and picnic. Paris celebrated the 1944 liberation from Nazi occupation on the Champs-Elysees and World Cup victories still bring out the crowds, but its famous charm has faded and it is mostly shunned by Parisians.

Today it is famous for its expensive cafes, luxury shops, high-end car salesrooms, commercial rents among the highest in the world and the annual Bastille Day military parade.

The plans also include redesigning the famous Place de la Concorde — Paris’ largest place — at the southeast end of the avenue, described by city hall as a “municipal priority.”

Words to Learn 相关词汇

【壮丽】zhuànglì splendor magnificence

【步行道】bùxíngdào promenade a place for strolling

巴黎市长近日表示，耗资2.5亿欧元（约合3.02亿美元）的香榭丽舍大街改造工程将继续进行，但这一雄心勃勃的改造计划不会在巴黎举办2024年夏季奥运会之前实现。

巴黎市长安娜▪伊达尔戈表示，这项于2019年由当地社区领导人和企业公布的方案将把巴黎市中心1.9公里长的香榭丽舍大街变成“一座非凡的花园”。

自2018年以来，香榭丽舍大街委员会一直致力于大幅改进香榭丽舍大街及其周围环境。

该委员会对伊达尔戈的声明表示欢迎。委员会在一份声明中称：“过去的30年里，这条传奇大道已经失去了昔日的光彩，巴黎人逐渐抛弃了它，而且香榭丽舍大街连遭 ‘黄背心’运动、罢工、卫生和经济危机等数次打击。”

该委员会主席让▪诺埃尔▪莱因哈特在2019年说：“香榭丽舍大街常被称为世界上最美丽的大道，但我们这些每天在这里工作的人，对此一点都不确定。”

“香榭丽舍大街迎来了越来越多的游客，知名企业争相入驻，但对法国人来说，香榭丽舍大街看上去已经破旧不堪。”

委员会就改造方案进行了公众咨询，包括减少一半的车辆行驶空间，将街道变成行人区和绿地，以及种植树木以改善空气质量。

香榭丽舍大街的名字在法语中意思是希腊神话中的天堂，极乐世界，最初这里是一片沼泽和果菜园。

太阳王路易十四的园丁安德烈▪勒▪诺特尔首先设计了这条宽阔的步行大道。大道两边种植着两排榆树，被命名为“大水道”。

1709年，它被重新命名为香榭丽舍大街，并进行了扩建，到18世纪末，它已成为散步和野餐的热门场所。

1944年，人们在香榭丽舍大街庆祝巴黎从纳粹占领下解放出来，法国世界杯夺冠时，香榭丽舍大道挤满庆祝的球迷。但它的魅力已经消退，多数巴黎人不再前往。

如今，香榭丽舍大街以其昂贵的咖啡馆、奢侈品店、豪车销售行、全球最高的商业租金和每年的法国国庆日阅兵而闻名。

改造方案还包括重新设计著名的巴黎协和广场，这是巴黎最大的广场，位于香榭丽舍大街东南角，被市政厅描述为“市政优先工程”。 (chinadaily.com.cn)