A late night bistro in Paris in the 1920's.

As Paris emerged from the hardship of the Great War, a wave of hedonism swept through the city. In the wake of deprivation, decadence flourished as Paris once again became the centre of modernity and creativity.

The French call the interwar years "Les annees folles", the crazy years, and for those who could afford it, it was indeed a wild party. Censorship was minimal, women's bare breasts were an accepted part of an evening's entertainment and brothels were legal. The American dollar was much stronger than the Franc, and American expatriates indulged in all that the city had to offer. Back home prohibition and narrow mindedness reigned, but in Paris, champagne and ideas flowed.

Kiki, of Montparnasse (also photographed above)

Some of the greatest artistic collaborations of the century fermented in Paris. It was in a Parisian café that the surrealist photographer Man Ray, met his muse, Kiki of Montparnasse. Here Ernest Hemmingway boxed with Morley Callaghan and F.Scott Fitzgerald kept the time. Across the Seine in Montmartre, Cole Porter would stay up all night at Bricktop's nightclub and wake up to compose some of his greatest tunes.

While the legitimate arts thrived, so too did the city's seedy underbelly. It was here that pornographic films and electronic vibrators emerged and student parties turned into marathon orgies. The Grand Guignol theatre walked the line between art and pornography nightly with its feigned mutilations, graphic sex scenes, and private balcony with a double bed.

Foreigners in Paris found a new tolerance for lifestyles that were taboo at home. From the rampant libido of Natalie Barney to the more staid partnerships exemplified by Gertrude Stein and Alice Toklas, lesbians were chic in Paris. Male homosexuality was more covert but sympathetic friends and casual partnerships were easy to find.

Jazz legend Cole Porter moved to Paris where he hosted lavish parties and explored his bi-sexuality.

The soundtrack to "les annees folles" was unquestionably the syncopated import from Harlem: jazz. Paris had a long of tradition of welcoming foreign musicians, and jazz clubs sprang up in the Montmartre district. When Josephine Baker debuted on a Parisian stage, carried in by a half-naked black man, she sent a message across the city, black was beautiful. She became an instant celebrity and a potent sex symbol, all before her 20th birthday.

As the 1920's came to a close, the staggering numbers of boisterous tourists in search of booze and entertainment began to enrage the French. But it was not the growing animosity towards foreigners that finally ended the great migration. As Black Tuesday toppled the stock market in October 1929, the stream of money that had supported the Americans abroad ran dry. For those who stayed, Paris remained, as Hemmingway described, "A Moveable Feast", but it became less exuberant, less exciting, perhaps even less sinful.

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