belle époque
/ˌbɛl eɪˈpɒk
/ /bɛl epɔk/noun
The period of settled and comfortable life preceding the First World War: [as modifier]: a romantic, belle-époque replica of a Paris bistro...
- Later generations, scarred by war, called this period a golden era, the belle époque.
- The former has gone down in history as the Great Depression of the nineteenth century, while the latter is known as the belle époque.
- Built in 1904, it is like entering a belle-époque time-warp, and its engine room is every schoolboy's dream come true.
Origin
French, 'fine period'.