'Gay Paree' was a term that originated as the Belle Epoque reached its zenith at the turn of the nineteenth into the twentieth century, but it may be said to have been conceived in the year 1880, when the liberal government, elected into power over the preceding couple of years, and succeeding the particularly puritanical ministry of M MacMahon, introduced a raft of reforms. The Marseillaise became the national anthem, July 14 became a national holiday, public meetings were allowed without official authorization, and the freedom of the press was promulgated by the abolition of "crimes of opinion". The cafés of Paris, previously regarded as hotbeds of sedition, multiplied and flourished.
