Bicycles, Baguettes, and Blunders: An Unforgettable Day Trip to Versailles
It was one of those scenes that plays out in slow motion as you watch it unfold and yet it also goes so fast that you can’t seem to react in time.
A sweet little French family is on their way home from Sunday services in the city of Versailles when suddenly an American tourist on a bicycle is heading straight toward their youngest daughter and waving like an imbécile.
I was that imbécile, and it was my first time back on a bicycle in longer than I could remember. You may not forget how to ride a bike, but you can certainly get very rusty at it.
Luckily, no major injuries were incurred, as I managed to get some control before I totally flattened her. And the family was super nice to brush off the incident. My own daughter, who had been slightly in front of me in the group of cyclists heading toward the marcé, pretended she didn’t know me and just kept going.
I still get angina about how I probably played into every ugly American tourist trope, but that day is still my favorite one from our trip to Paris.
I’d booked the experience through AirBnB on the recommendation of a coworker who had done it previously with her daughter. It’s a full day’s excursion and, I now agree with her, totally worth it.
The train ride from Paris to Versailles was quick and easy, and the bicycle shop where we met up with our guides and a small group of other tourists was right next to the station when we arrived.
After a bit of time getting everyone outfitted with bicycles (when I should have asked for a kid’s size one so my short legs would have been closer to the ground), we headed toward the Carrés Notre-Dame. It’s been operated on the same site since being established by Louis XII in the 17th century and is apparently the second largest market in France. There, we got to shop for our lunch from a wide selection of fresh regional produce, bread, and meats.
Cherries were in season and in abundance when we were there, so we grabbed some of those, along with strawberries, cheese, roasted chicken, and of course, a baguette. These all fit neatly into the baskets everyone’s bike was outfitted with, along with blankets for our future picnic.
From there, we pedaled on to the palace and gardens, where there was a lot less traffic to navigate as I regained my muscle memory on two wheels.
Our guide led us first toward Marie Antoinette's Hamlet, where she had built a sort of mini palace and created a little village around it with a farm. Ostensibly, she wanted her children to experience what it was like to live outside the Grand Palace, but legend or myth has it according to our guide that it was still a bit of a fantasy experience with workers first gathering eggs and cleaning them before placing them back into the nests for the children to find.
Next, we rode over to the cross-shaped Grand Canal that covers a surface area of 59 acres. We spread out our blankets and enjoyed perfect weather for a picnic while watching boats on the canal.
After letting the meal settle, we got back on our bikes and headed up to the big house – the Palace of Versallies, where 2,300 rooms spread across 2,014 acres. Being part of the group meant we got to skip lines and get straight to all the things you expect to see, like the Hall of Mirrors, the King’s and Queen’s bedchambers, and the place where the Treaty of Versailles was signed, formally ending World War I.
There was plenty of time to explore the formal gardens and fountains around the the palace as well before we hopped back on our bicycles and returned to the train station.
All in all, it was a 10-hour day away from the City of Lights and so worth the time.