Please don't make me go to Versailles....

Posted by shelrose13 on 07/02/17 02:15 PM

...Ok, full disclosure-- I've been, but only to the grounds, which I loved. My husband and I were there 16 years ago and wanted to wander around the gardens. It was lovely, of course, and I prefer gardens and landscaping to stately homes!
We are visiting Paris later this month for 3 days with our daughters (13 & 15). The younger one wants to go biking; I thought biking the grounds of Versailles would be lovely! But now it looks like the day we can go, the musical fountains, etc. are on. So I don't think we can bike, or if we do, we all pay additional admission? And it's starting to look less like the 'easy plan' I'd anticipated? (I'm finding their website is a bit labyrinthine in getting the info.) Is anyone else clear on this? While it sounds lovely to ride and see the fountains and hear music, I think we can find enough to do in Paris itself instead!
I love that these forums emphasize 'what you WANT to do' over 'what you SHOULD do!' SO my question is...where else might I satisfy her biking urge? I love the Velib' idea, but half the time we probably won't know where we are headed, and those Parisian streets are crazy busy!

Thanks so much for suggestions...
Shelbey

Posted by Kathy

Minnesota 🎒

07/02/17 02:32 PM

16547 posts

Shelby, what about a Fat Tire tour? I haven't done one in Paris but their tours seem to get consistently high marks: a well-known resource for city tours.

https://www.fattiretours.com/paris

Posted by Pilgrim

Boston, MA (USA)

07/02/17 02:37 PM

630 posts

We used Fat Tire Biking Tours for our Versailles day and absolutely LOVED it. It was one of the best days of our France Trip.

Posted by Donna 🌎

Ohio

07/02/17 02:57 PM

2161 posts

Hi Shelbey, we did a Fat Tire Bike tour of Giverny and had a great time. We met the group at the train station and then took the train to Vernon. Then we bought a picnic lunch at the market, got the bikes and went to Giverny. After lunch we toured Monet's gardens and house. We biked back to Vernon and then took the train back to Paris. A very nice 3/4 day that might be an alternative to Versailles.

Posted by Nigel

Northamptonshire, England

07/02/17 03:59 PM

33842 posts

Bois de Boulogne

Plenty to do there, and safe from cars (mostly).

Wikipedia has a decent account https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BoisdeBoulogne

Posted by andi

franktown, colorado

07/02/17 04:01 PM

2252 posts

I also recommend the above mentioned Fat Tire tours. I have done those three and found they were enjoyable and really fun! Check out their website for more information. I think your family will enjoy them. Donna covered the Giverny tour itinerary very well in her reply. I must say, I enjoyed that one the most! I think it was the picnic lunch :)

Posted by shelrose13 OP

07/02/17 06:50 PM

26 posts

Wow-- I hadn't considered Giverny! It may be a little far out though; it still seems like a wonderful possibility. All the flowers!
I'll check into Fat Tire; it may still be out of our budget for 4, though.
Along the lines of the Bois de Boulogne-- one other thing I wondered about was taking a ride around the Parc de la Villette, where we wanted to look at some of the things going on for the Summer Festival. I know biking in the Jardin du Luxembourg is forbidden, but maybe out at Parc de la Villette it's ok? If anyone knows (or about the festival), I'd love to hear it...
--Shelbey

Posted by Anita

Long Beach, California, USA

07/03/17 03:52 AM

3398 posts

If you rent bikes at Versailles the part of the gardens you will ride around in is different than the formal gardens where the fountains are...the formal gardens are closed to those not holding tickets during the fountain shows. I highly recommend riding bikes grounds the grounds of Versailles...they are EXTENSIVE and you can ride for hours and not see the same thing twice.

Posted by Travel Boss

Myrtle Beach, USA

07/03/17 03:20 PM

12313 posts

Why not get a Velib in Paris? They are amazingly cheap, I think 1,70 euro for the day as long as each ride is under 30 minutes. You can ride from one place to another in less than 30 minutes (you can't ride in the gardens, but you can ride from one to the other then walk the garden), do something for 30 minutes, then another ride, another stop, etc. all day for just the day price. If you ride longer, the additional cost is much less than renting a bike (something like another euro per hour) so you don't have to stress about it.

I rode from the Marais along the Seine left bank (right on the water), stopped at Luxembourg gardens, then rode to near the Arc de Triomphe before checking in my last bike for the day. To get over the initial shyness of where I could/should ride, I'd follow someone else on a bike who was heading the same direction.

I had a little trouble figuring out the automated machine, but with several tries and some help from a French person who was waiting to use the system, I eventually got it to work (not much different than the RER ticket machine and toll booths, they work with my cards - eventually). My problem was I entered something and waited for the machine to react, but there was a separate "enter" button. Once I figured that out, it was all logical and easy to follow. Ultimately you will have a daily code, choose a bike that works, go to the machine put in your code and the number for the bike (it prompts you) and the system unlocks the bike. When you check it in, just make sure it's seated in the lock.

Best advice is to make sure the bike is in working order before you choose it. Check that tires have air, pick up the back and test that the pedal turns the wheels. Most of them work and, if not, the seat is often turned backwards to let you know.

There are Velib stations all over. I had a smart phone so I checked for a site near me when I was ready to drop, the site also shows how full the station is (so you know if they have bikes or space to drop off). If you don't have data, you can print a map from home or just save a map to a tablet/phone from WiFi (which is in virtually every hotel, restaurant, bar...).