Charles de Gaulle–Étoile

The station is located under the northern part of Place Charles-de-Gaulle, the platforms are established:

• on lines 1 (between Argentine and George V stations) and 6 (preceding Kléber station), side by side, parallel to the historic Paris axis;
• on line 2 (between Victor Hugo and Ternes stations), almost perpendicular to the previous ones, on a lower level, below the beginning of Avenue de Wagram.

Although line 1 had opened on 19 July 1900, the Étoile station only opened on 1 September 1900. On 2 October 1900, the terminus of line 2 Sud, consisting of the Étoile - Trocadéro section of current line 6, was opened.[1]^:210–211 This line was first operated in the form of a branch line 1 until 5 November 1903, when it was extended from one station to Passy.[1]^:210–211 On 13 December 1900, the station of line 2 Nord was also opened and temporarily constituted the eastern terminus of its first section until 7 October 1902, the date on which the line was extended to Anvers. On 17 October 1907, this line became line 2 following the absorption of line 2 Sud by line 5 on 14 October 1907, which then performed the Étoile - Lancry route (current station Jacques Bonsergent).[1]^:197

It owes its original name Étoile to its location under the Place de l'Étoile, as it is then called because of the multiple avenues that intersect there, thus giving it the shape of a star.

From 17 May to 6 December 1931, the section between Place d'Italie and Étoile on line 5 was temporarily integrated into line 6, which then linked Étoile to Nation.[1]^:210–211 The absorbed section was finally ceded on 6 October 1942.

The station was modernized around the 1950s with the installation of sand-colored tiles in the connecting corridors, while the platforms of line 1, like the majority of its stopping points, were extended 90 meters to accommodate six-car trainsets between May 1963 and December 1964. As at the Bastille on the same line, the presence of curves upstream and downstream from the station precluded an extension to 105 meters as initially envisaged.

After the death of Charles de Gaulle on 13 November 1970, Place de l'Étoile was renamed Place Charles de Gaulle and the station was renamed as Charles de Gaulle–Étoile. The RER line A station, 30 m deeper, opened on 21 February 1970, initially as the terminus of a shuttle from La Défense. The RER A was extended to Auber on 23 November 1971.[2]

In parallel with this connection to the RER station, the platforms of the three lines were modernized in turn by adopting the Mouton-Duvernet style, a decoration that cuts radically with the dominant white of the original metro (which would then be supplemented with red "Motte" style seats).[3]

On 18 November 1996, a derailment occurred at the line 6 station, resulting in two minor injuries. The station on line 1 was renovated in 2010 as part of its automation, losing its Mouton style. Its platforms were raised to accommodate landing doors, the installation of which took place in April 2011.

On 16 July 2018, part of the nameplates of the platforms on lines 2 and 6 were temporarily replaced to celebrate France's victory at the 2018 Football World Cup, as at five other stations.[4] Charles de Gaulle - Étoile was humorously renamed On a 2 Étoiles with two small golden stars inscribed at the bottom of the plate (below the 2), in reference to the second star won by the France team.

In 2019, 7,296,559 travelers entered this station which places it at the 36th position of the metro stations for its usage.[5]

• Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile - thanks to the direct connection to the monument, the station is popular with tourists from the capital.
• Avenue des Champs-Élysées - the station is located at the north-west end of the avenue, at the end of its shopping section lined with shops and restaurants.

In the film Fear Over the City by Henri Verneuil with Jean-Paul Belmondo and Charles Denner, released in 1975, part of Marcucci's pursuit in Paris takes place in the corridors of the station. The film Les Rois mages by Bernard Campan and Didier Bourdon (2001) depicts the three magi who returned to earth after two thousand years: on the trail of the Star, they finally discover the newborn they are looking for in the corridors of Charles de Gaulle - Étoile station. Other films its found in include Subway (1985) by Luc Besson and Eden Is West (2008) by Costa-Gavras.

• List of stations of the RER