Les plaisirs de Versailles Les plaisirs de Versailles Les plaisirs de Versailles (English: "The Pleasures of Versailles") is a short opera (or "divertissement") by the French composer Marc-Antoine Charpentier. It was intended for performance at the new courtly entertainment known as "les appartements du roi" ("the king's receptions") devised by King Louis XIV and held in his own apartments at the palace of Versailles in 1682. At the time, Charpentier was composer for Louis, "le Grand Dauphin", the king's son. The librettist is unknown. Most of the characters represent the pleasures enjoyed at Versailles: "La Musique" (Music), "La Conversation" (Conversation), "Le Jeu" (Gambling), Comus
History of the Palace of Versailles well as a symbol of the system of absolute monarchy of the Ancien Régime. The earliest mention of the name of Versailles is found in a document which predates 1038, the Charte de l'abbaye Saint-Père de Chartres (Charter of the Saint-Père de Chartres Abbey), in which one of the signatories was a certain Hugo de Versailliis (Hugues de Versailles), who was seigneur of Versailles. During this period, the village of Versailles centred on a small castle and church, and the area was governed by a local lord. Its location on the road from Paris to Dreux and Normandy brought some