A Rare 1866 Paris Opera Is Back at Versailles
Versailles is adding a surprise to the holiday season this year, and it’s something you don’t often see revived in its original form.
The Opéra Royal of Versailles is staging Jacques Offenbach’s La Vie Parisienne exactly as it premiered in 1866, rebuilt from old Palais-Royal archives and brought back to life with full musical numbers that disappeared from later versions.
It runs from December 27 to January 4, right in the middle of the New Year travel window, when thousands of visitors are in Paris looking for something memorable to do after dark.
The Opéra Royal is one of the most striking historic theaters in France. It’s small, intimate, and soaked in 18th-century detail. It opened in 1770 for the wedding of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette.
Designed by Ange-Jacques Gabriel, it was the largest theatre in Europe until the Paris Opera Garnier. Louis XV ordered its construction after Louis XIV failed to build one. The hall is entirely wooden, which gave it some of the best acoustics of the 18th century.
Fleur-de-lis motifs, sun symbols, and tall columns still frame the room. It’s one of the oldest surviving theatres in Europe and remains almost unchanged since the 1700s.
The team behind this revival is impressive. Christian Lacroix is handling costumes and staging, which means rich fabrics, period silhouettes, and visual drama that plays well even for people who don’t usually follow opera.
Victor Jacob conducts the orchestra of the Opéra Royal, and the cast includes Marc Mauillon, Florie Valiquette, and Philippe Estèphe, names that often appear in major French productions.
The opera itself is pure Offenbach: champagne parties, satire, tangled identities, and a chaotic portrait of Paris life in the late 1800s. It was written to poke fun at tourists, aristocrats, and the city’s appetite for nonstop entertainment.
Even if someone has never seen an opera, the tone is light, fast, and easy to follow. The surtitles in French and English make it accessible to international visitors.
Seeing a Second Empire comic opera in a royal theatre built for court spectacles creates a strange collision of eras that you won’t get anywhere else!
The production lasts about three hours and includes an intermission. Most performances start in the evening, with a couple of afternoon shows depending on the day. Ticket prices range from 169€ to 353€.
For visitors looking for a special night out over the holidays, this is the kind of event that feels very “Versailles” without being a museum visit. An experience to remember long after leaving Paris.