Paris/8th arrondissement

The 8th arrondissement of Paris is home to the Avenue des Champs Elysées, which ends up at the Arc de Triomphe. The executive branch of French government is also based here, as well as the embassies of certain nations.

Understand
The four quartiers of the 8th arrondissement are as follows:

Quartier des Champs-Elysées
Extending all the way along the Champs-Elysées it encompasses the entire southern part of the arrondissement, including its part of the bank of the river Seine. This quartier is home to some of the most luxurious hotels and restaurants, as well as headquarters of luxury goods companies in its western part, and to the famous exhibition venues, the Grand Palais and Petit Palais, as well as Place Concorde in the east.

Apart from Champs-Elysées, the main streets of the quartier include Cours Albet 1er/Cours la Reine along the river Seine, Avenue Montaigne (luxury boutiques), Avenue George V (luxury hotels and restaurants) and Avenue Marceau (marking the border with the 16th arrondissement). All four meet at Place de l'Alma, from where the famous Pont de l'Alma bridges the Seine. Three of those (sans Avenue Marceau) are also joined by the perpendicular Rue Francois 1er, which plays host to some more luxury addresses. Avenue Franklin D. Roosevelt, with a large circular Rond-point des Champs-Élysées-Marcel-Dassault in the middle, marks the division between the densely-built part of the quartier to the east and the Jardins de Champs-Elysées to the west.

Quartier de la Madeleine
Named after the L'eglise de la Madeleine temple in its western extremity, this quartier houses some of the most important offices of state of the French Republic, including the presidential Elysee Palace, many embassies and more luxury goods companies and stores along its famous Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honore.

Quartier du Faubourg-de-Roule
It extends from the northern frontage of Champs-Elysées and encompasses the Avenue Friedland, the Avenue Hoche and the eastern frontage of Avenue Wagram.

Quartier de l'Europe
This densely-built quartier around the Gare Saint-Lazare replaced the erstwhile faubourg of Petite-Pologne ("small Poland") in the 19th century. The quartier was a centrally-planned development with streets extending from the Place de l'Europe bearing names of European cities such as rue de Vienne or rue de Saint-Pétersbourg

From airports
Le Bus Direct offer connections from both the Orly (line 1) and Charles de Gaulle (line 2) airports to Charles de Gaulle-Etoile.

By train
In the northeastern part of the 8th arrondissement you will find the, which is the second-busiest railway station in Paris, and in fact the whole Europe, by the number of passengers. That said, by the 21st century it is a solely domestic station serving as a terminus for Intercités from Normandy and Transiliens lines J and L, connecting Paris with its suburbs and municipalities of Ile-de-France west of the city.

The RER A, which traverses Paris over the northern (right) bank of the Seine and connects to its western and eastern suburbs, including La Defense, crosses the 8th arrondissement but has no stations within the district. You can use it to get to the 8th by getting off at Charles de Gaulle-Etoile at the western end of the 8th or Auber a tad east of the 8th.

To get to the 8th arrondissement from other major Paris railway stations you can make use of the following connections:
 * From Gare Montparnasse, take M6, M12 or M13
 * From Gare du Lyon, take the RER A, M1 or M14. The M14 also serves the nearby Gare du Bercy
 * The Gare du Nord where the majority of international trains arrive, as well as the neighbouring Gare de l'Est, have no direct metro or RER connection to the 8th arrondissement. You may walk from either Gare to the Magenta RER station between them and take the RER E to its terminus at Haussmann - Saint-Lazare, which is connected by an underground passage to Gare Saint-Lazare. Otherwise, you have to either change between metro/RER lines or succumb to the posh atmosphere of the 8th and take a taxi.
 * Gare d'Austerlitz does not have a good direct connection to the 8th at all. You may take the RER C and get off at any station on the left bank of the Seine facing the 8th and walk across one of the bridges.

By Métro
The majority of the Métro lines, with the exceptions of M4, M5, M7, M10 and M11, have stops within the 8th arrondissement.
 * M1, which crosses the northern (right) bank of the Seine from east to west, terminating at La Defense, has 5 stops within the 8th along Champs-Elysees
 * M2, which follows the borders between the inner and outer districts of the right bank of Seine, does so for the northwestern district of the 8th, with no less than 7 stations along it
 * M3, another east-west line on the northern bank, has three stops at the northwestern end of the 8th arrondissement, including the one at Saint-Lazare
 * M6, which runs through the southern bank of the Seine, terminates at Charles de Gaulle-Etoile.
 * M8 stops at Concorde and Madeleine
 * M9, yet another east-west line on the northern bank, has 5 stops in the 8th
 * M12, which runs from the north to the south of Paris, has stops along the western border of the 8th arrondissement, including Concorde
 * M13, another north-south line, has four stops in the eastern part of the 8th
 * M14 has its terminus at Saint-Lazare and also stops at Madeleine before continuing to the east and southeast of Paris

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Sleep
Thanks to its relatively large size and the fact that the most popular attractions are either contained within its borders or in the neighbouring districts, the 8th arrondissement boast a large number of hotels even by Parisian standards. That said, you would be hard-pressed to find really inexpensive accommodation here - most are luxury hotels. For less expensive accommodation, you may want to check out your options in the neighbouring districts.

Go next

 * Continue east beyond the Place Concorde to the 1st arrondissement to see the historic core of Paris, including the Louvre, and more luxury boutiques...
 * ...or northeast beyond the Madeleine to the 9th, for the famous department stores and the Opera Garnier
 * Cross any of the four bridges on the Seine to find yourself in the 7th arrondissement, home to Les Invalides, Musee d'Orsay and the Eiffel Tower
 * The Etoile is where the 8th meets two other, much more quiet and residential arrondissements, the 16th and 17th