Great to see Paris with a bike tour

We took three tours on bikes while staying in Paris. We found both tours companies in Rick Steves' Paris Guide. The first was a private bike tour for our family of 4 with Bike About Tours (bikeabouttours.com). We had arrived from California that morning, settled into our apartment and then took this tour. This was a perfect way to get a first glimpse of Paris while fending off jet lag. The guide was fabulous - fun and informative. He showed us typical sites and neighborhoods, but also fun "extras" like a cannon ball stuck in the wall of the Hotel Sens, Jim Morrison's apartment building and Space Invader graffiti. He brought history alive for us all. We felt very safe riding on the smaller, back roads and through traffic free areas. We also took two group tours with Fat Tire Bike (www.fattirebiketours.com): the night tour and a trip to Versailles. These trips were also loads of fun. There was virtually no overlap in these three tours. The night tour covers the western part of Paris whereas Bike About Tours covers the eastern part. We were with a large group on the night tour so it was less informative and more of a party. At the end, we left the bikes and took a river cruise down the Seine (complete with wine) just in time to see the light show on the Eiffel Tower. The trip to Versailles included a train ride, shopping at the open air market, a picnic by the Grand Canal, biking through the grounds and entrance into the chateau. Our family loved all these bike tours. Bikes are a great change of pace and a fun way to see the sites.