Bike tour of Paris?

I think it sounds stressful as well but I am not a great cyclist and I think I am still traumatized from being hit by a taxi while on my bike in New York City over twenty years ago. I have some relatives (my children and nieces and nephews) who have done the bike tours in Paris and Versailles and enjoyed them. They especially liked the bespoke Paris tours offered by French Mystique Bike Tours and the Fat Tire Versailles bike tour. My children hated Versailles during their first visit but tried again a couple of years later with Fat Tire tours and loved it.

I watched a bike tour cycle on Rue de Grenelle near Le musée de l'Armée a few months ago. There was enough traffic, construction, and confusion in the area that I was quite glad I was not on a bike, simply walking. Folks on the tour got separated from the main group by traffic lights. I wondered at the time how anyone could see anything except the bike in front of them. But, that's me.

What I saw was my definition of "stressful", but may not be problematic for others. Hopefully, you can get feedback from some who have actually partaken!

Not related to your bike question, but I can't help suggesting a couple stops a WWII history buff might enjoy. You my already be aware of these, but if not:

The Museum of the Liberation of Paris is very good. Directly across the street from the Catacombs if anyone in your party is interested in that. (I have never visited.)
https://www.museeliberation-leclerc-moulin.paris.fr/en/le-musee

In the Musée de l'Armée, there are several ares that might be of interest. The Charles deGaulle rooms (I recently spent 2 hours there and it wasn't my first visit. Very interactive, English options.); Museum of the Order of the Liberation (a wing of the bigger complex) has the stories of many of the resistance fighters among other moving exhibits. Much is in French, but I once took my then college-age, non-French speaker "child" - we spent over an hour; World War exhibits - WWI and WWII. Additionally, Napoleon's Tomb on the same ticket - to me, that was worth the cost! Other excellent military history exhibits as well.

https://www.musee-armee.fr/en/home.html

Biking on the streets of a big foreign city. What could go wrong? Unless I were a very experienced biker I would not even think of doing this. There are places like along the Seine with dedicated non car bike spaces. But you cannot bike in parks; I have seen tourists ticketed for trying to do this.

Versailles is another thing. Biking on the grounds of the Chateau is a great way to get around as is biking from Vernon to Giverny.

We did a bike tour in Paris a few years ago. Our route was mostly on streets that had less traffic and we stopped often to hear information/commentary provided by our leader. It was not at all stressful and we learned a lot. We had fewer than 10 in our group as I recall. It was a lot of fun.

My first ever bike tour was in Paris in March 2017 with Fat Tire Tours. We loved it--the guide kept us mostly out of traffic using green spaces and bike lanes. When we were on a street, they were quiet ones, and the guides have always been meticulous about gathering people together and waiting before crossing a busy intersection. My sister and her husband did a tour the next year with Paris Charms and Secrets (which was the company I really wanted but their schedule didn't fit with ours) and she GUSHED about it. STILL gushes about it. I should add that she and I are both very leery about riding in traffic. Now, we try to book a bike tour for our first day in any city (London, Edinburgh, San Sebastian, Oaxaca, Dublin) because it's a great way to see a lot of territory and get the lay of the land, the guides have been consistently delightful, and we have always felt safe. Of course, I also check the reviews closely before booking to make sure I'm with a reputable company.

Worth noting: most bike tours don't take time for you to go inside and visit the major sites. Usually you stop at them and the guide will tell you interesting things. Instead the tour helps you get your bearings and gives you an overview of the biggies. Often I learn about something that I didn't know I wanted to see, and sometimes I feel like I got enough from the tour to satisfy my curiosity about that particular site.

One of my sons and his daughter, then age 9, did a Fat Tire Bike Tour of Paris on a tandem bike and loved it. It was among their favorite activities while in Paris. He described the route to me the same as suzannewilmoth does here: bike lanes and green spaces.

Love all the feedback! Thanks so much.

I did a bike tour with Le French Way and loved it! We made several stops on our tour, our guide was super knowledgeable and was great at explaining the history of each monument. I'm not a very experienced biker, but we were in separate bike lanes almost the entire time and with the guide I felt totally safe. The tour is about 2-3 hours long, and you can choose between either the left or right bank.
The best part is that they use refurbished vintage Solexs, a type of bike that was popular in the 60s in France, that are now 100% electric so you don't even need to pedal!

Here's their website :
https://lefrenchway.com/en/

Our last few times in Paris we have used Bike About Tours https://www.bikeabouttours.com/ we love them. I just booked our bike tour for our July trip. The groups are small, knowledgeable guides and they have interesting tours.

I think you have to be born and raised in Paris there to pull this off. I've seen Parisians nonchalantly riding a bike in the street (no helmets!) while a 10 ton city bus trails them by only a few feet. They never hesitate, never look back over their shoulders, never adjust their pace or trajectory. They just pedal along obliviously.

Can you do that? Do you want your 18 year old son doing that?

Umm, that is why I asked. Isn’t that the point of this forum to get information from people who had the experience?