Why Paris in the late 19th century?

In the half century before the First World War Paris was quite possibly the most exciting place on earth. It was a tumultuous era that saw the city taken over by a revolutionary commune, anarchists setting off bombs in fashionable cafes, the stationing of guards at exhibitions to prevent the public from attacking paintings, and fist fights at the opening nights of plays and musical concerts. But it was also a period of immense creativity. Paris as we know it was born in these days, as tree-lined boulevards cut through medieval streets, the Eiffel Tower rose above the 1889 world’s fair, intellectuals debated art and politics in cafes, and showgirls rubbed shoulders with the era’s great painters at the Moulin Rouge. In its studios and cafes the foundations of modern culture were being constructed by young people drawn to the city by a counter culture in which experimentation and radical lifestyles were honored.