124 THE BOULEVARDS. 



though, where there are so many of great extent and 

 almost similar features, it is difficult to particularize. 



Of avenues, the largest and most gardenesque is the 

 Avenue de Flmperatrice, leading from the Arc de Triomphe 

 to the Bois de Boulogne. 



In order to put the centre of Paris in communication 

 ■with the Bois de Boulogne by means of a wide direct road, 

 an imperial decree ordered the Route departemental leading 

 from the Bond Point de FEtoile to the Porte Dauphine of 

 the Bois de Boulogne, to he straightened. Half the 

 expense was borne by the State, under the conditions that 

 an iron railing of uniform design was to be constructed along 

 the whole length of the road, that a strip of eleven yards 

 in breadth be left for a garden between this railing and 

 the houses on each side, and further, that no kind of trade 

 or manufacture should be carried on in the houses adjoining. 

 The avenue was made entirely through private lands which 

 were acquired for the purpose. Its total length is 1300 

 yards ; the width 130 yards. It consists of a central drive, 

 seventeen yards wide, of two large side walks, each mea- 

 suring thirteen yards wide, and of two strips of turf planted 

 with choice trees and shrubs, including the whole of the 

 species as yet naturalized in Paris, and lastly, of two foot- 

 paths running along the side of iron railings that separate 

 the houses from the road. The total cost of the avenue 

 amounted to over 20,000/., in addition to which the city of 

 Paris expended a sum of 4000Z. more on the flower-beds and 

 plantations, for the enlargement of the Auteuil railway 

 bridge, and for the general drainage of the ride. 



The Avenue de FEmpereur, beginning at the Quai de 

 Billy, opposite the Pont de l'Alma, and joining the Bois 

 de Boulogne close by the Porte de la Muette, is another 

 example of the great attention and expense devoted to 

 avenues and boulevards in Paris during recent years. The 

 portion of the avenue between the Porte de la Muette and 

 the Place du Roi de Rome was laid down in 1862. The 

 part included between the Rue du Petit Pare and the Place 

 du Roi de Rome necessitated considerable excavations, many 

 of them being as much as thirty-three feet in depth. Along 



