PLEASURE

Ecstasy had been invented in 1913, but had to wait another 75 years to become popular. Absinthe, a wormwood-based drink with hallucinogenic properties, was banned in 1915. Pernod replaced it as the arty drink of choice. Opium had its fans, including the writer Jean Cocteau. Modigliani liked a spliff, apparently. Women were beginning to gain more freedom and were more openly going out on the razz.

Paris in this era was probably the most liberal place in Europe. It certainly was a lot more easy-going than the United States, where prohibition was being enforced. There was also a more liberal attitude to sex. Homosexuality and promiscuity did not mean the instant rejection from society that it would mean in many parts of the World. Gertrude Stein's partner was the writer Alice B. Toklas and they had a fairly open relationship considering it was the 20s. In fact, if they dared, the 'modern' woman could smoke, drink and have all sorts of new fun. The beautiful American nicknamed 'Kiki de Montparnasse' was a model posing nude as well as clothed, for many famous artists of the day including Man Ray. She is an appropriate symbol of the free sexual attitudes and bohemian behaviour, but her activities would have been beyond shocking in the USA. Condoms had been issued to soldiers during the war to guard against venereal disease and brands such as Trojan were made publicly available by 1920. This meant that not only could married couples control the size of their families but young people could engage in more sex before marriage. Ernest Hemingway famously called Paris, "a moveable feast". Cafés, clubs, parties (big parties), think tanks, salons - no doubt about it, if you were an outsider looking for a good time, it was definitely the place to be.