The story (which is disputed) goes that during meetings at Le Meurice, the Swedish consul-general in Paris, Raoul Nordling, helped convince von Choltitz to defy the Fuhrer's orders and spare Paris. However, a few weeks later, the famous question Hitler asked von Choltitz, “Is Paris Burning?”, would not receive an affirmative answer. Specifically chosen for his track record of rigid obedience, he was on strict instruction from Hitler to destroy the city rather than let it fall into the hands of the Allies. On August 7, 1944, as the war's endgame was beginning, a new military governor of Paris, General Dietrich von Choltitz, moved in. Many of Paris’s luxury hotels were requisitioned by the Nazis, and the elegant Le Meurice was repurposed into the headquarters of the German occupation of 'Gross Paris' (greater Paris). Today, a statue of the triumphantly marching de Gaulle stands guard over the avenue, in front of the Grand Palais. The French eventually seized back the avenue with their own victory parade starring General Charles de Gaulle and French and American forces, on the day after the city’s liberation, August 26, 1944. One of the city’s main entertainment centers, its cafés were popular with the occupying forces, and Le Normandie movie theater, still in existence, is an example of the many establishments around the city that were reserved exclusively for German soldiers. Two weeks later, Hitler proudly drove down the avenue on his grand tour of Paris, his only wartime visit there. A military parade and marching bands descended on Les Champs-Elysées, hanging a swastika flag from the Arc de Triomphe. When they arrived in the capital on June 14, the victors wasted no time in laying claim to the city’s world-famous avenue. After the 'Phoney War,' the calm period between the invasion of Poland and May 1940, the Nazis swooped on France, deftly invading and defeating the country within seven weeks.

Where is the ville