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Fortune
Fortune
Adam Gale

The Champs-Elysées hosted Paris’s largest picnic: A photo feature

Close up shot of people enjoying a picnic on the Champs-Elysées (Credit: Firas Abdullah/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Around 4,400 Parisians descended on the French capital’s Champs-Élysées on Sunday for a giant picnic on a 216 meter red-and-white checkered blanket, in the shadow of the Arc de Triomphe.

Needless to say, it wasn’t spontaneous. Le Grand Pique-Nique de Champs was organized by a committee of businesses aiming to get locals back to the area, which has become primarily a destination for tourists over the past few decades.

PARIS, FRANCE - MAY 26: Picnickers participate in the Grand Picnic on the Champs-Elysees in Paris, France on May 26, 2024. (Photo by Firas Abdullah/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Guests, drawn at random from over 240,000 applicants, were treated to free culinary delights—both on the picnic blanket and on long benches that were especially set up—that were provided by nearby restaurants, including the renowned Fouquet’s.

PARIS, FRANCE - MAY 26: Picnickers participate in the Grand Picnic on the Champs-Elysees in Paris, France on May 26, 2024. (Photo by Firas Abdullah/Anadolu via Getty Images)

While Champs-Élysées gets no shortage of visitors, its composition has changed significantly as real estate values have increased, pricing out shops and cinemas that catered to locals. LVMH for example reportedly paid over €1 billion ($1.08 billion) for the Louis Vuitton flagship store, on the corner of Champs-Élysées and the prestigious Avenue George V.

A photograph taken on April 23, 2024 shows a view of the new Louis Vuitton luxury shop belonging to French luxury group LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA, on the Champs Elysee avenue in Paris. (Photo by JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP) (Photo by JULIEN DE ROSA/AFP via Getty Images)

Alongside luxury boutiques, lower-price but still tourist-friendly chains like McDonald’s and Disney store have also set up shop.

PARIS, FRANCE - JUNE 20: A model walks the runway during the Vetements Menswear Spring Summer 2020 show at McDonalds on Champs-Elysees as part of Paris Fashion Week on June 20, 2019 in Paris, France. (Photo by Victor Boyko/Getty Images)

Locals have additionally complained about rising crime and antisocial behavior on the avenue, which is on the intersection of several Paris Metro lines. As an iconic, central location, Champs-Élysées was also the site of large scale gilets jaunes protests, which began in 2018.

PARIS, FRANCE - DECEMBER 08: Riot Police officers patrol near 'Le Fouquets' cafe during the 'Yellow vests' demonstration on the Champs Elysees on December 8, 2018 in Paris, France. The "Yellow Vest" ("Gilet Jaunes") protests have wracked Paris and other French cities for nearly a month, as the movement, inspired by opposition to a new fuel tax, has absorbed a wide range of anti-government sentiment. (Photo by Pierre Suu/Getty Images)

The Grand Pique-Nique was not the first attempt by the organizing committee, Comité Champs-Élysées, to get locals back to the area: in previous years, it has hosted a giant spelling contest and open-air cinema. It also comes as rival European capital London has been trying to expunge its famous Oxford Street of its seemingly ubiquitous American candy and Harry Potter merchandise stores.

The challenge is that there’s only so much that can be done in the face of high property costs, which are squeezing out retailers and food and drink businesses that aren’t highly profitable, or at least large enough to justify a location like Champs Élysées as a loss-leading shop window for their online offering.

PARIS, FRANCE - MAY 26: Picnickers participate in the Grand Picnic on the Champs-Elysees in Paris, France on May 26, 2024. (Photo by Firas Abdullah/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Tourists have money, so it shouldn’t be surprising that the most expensive areas adapt to cater to them. Indeed, the only way authorities and businesses may be able to get local customers back is by hosting more picnics. It’s unlikely Parisians would complain.

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