Mar 17, 2010
By Lisa T. Bergren
Are the traffic and crowds of Paris getting to you? Head ten miles out of town to the country escape/palace for Louis XIV and later his heirs, Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. Be aware the grounds are enormous—and the grounds are as glorious (in a different way, of course) as the ostentatious, gilded halls of the chateau. Our Fat Tire Bike tour here was a trip highlight—left at 9am from Paris, traveled by group on the train with our bikes (all 22 of us!), purchased picnic supplies at a 200 year old market…
…biked about the grounds, admiring Marie Antoinette’s subdued escape, as well as her gilded palaces…(crashed into a pole because I was so enamored, but survived)…
…ate our picnic at Marie Antoinette’s very own favorite spot at the far end of the lake…A buttery, melt-in-your-mouth brie, a smoked Gouda, a crusty baguette, a quarter kilo of massive strawberries, a bottle of wine that I shared with the adults….mmm….
…then we spent 1.5 hours at the chateau. Really amazing.
Versailles Tips
If you go on your own, take the whole day. They rent bikes and boats there, so if the weather’s decent, be sure to take advantage of either or both. The man-made lake is huge (it took 11 years to build and is about 8 feet deep, built in the form of a cross). If you boat down it, be aware of winds that can make it tough to return. You can probably bike the whole border path, at a relaxed pace, in 45 minutes to an hour—and you’ll see a couple of other lovely buildings that were favorite escapes for Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.
TIP: Do get the audio guide at the chateau. While it’s rather dry and information-based, it will help everyone in the group make sense of the enormous rooms.
While we enjoyed Paris very much, we adored this excursion into the lush gardens and grounds created by famous–and ultimately doomed–royalty. Paired with a visit to the Conciergie–where Marie Antoinette was imprisoned along with others condemned to die via the guillotine–my girls got a primer on French royalty and the revolution. It wasn’t hard to imagine the French masses, starving to death, frustrated and angry, entering these grounds and thinking, Okay, this has gotta change…Such are the makings of revolution.
Decades later, we mere mortals are happy it still stands. While the glitzy chateau is nothing I’d ever want to live in, it’s a wonder to behold. And the grounds…luscious. Truly one of the best parts of our French travels!
Related Posts: London/Paris Spring Break Trip:
London, Part 3/3: Stonehenge, Bath and Windsor
Ferry vs. Chunnel: Paris via Calais
French People are Nice (and Paris is Safe)
Click HERE to read our Teen Traveler’s report on France.
Have you been to Versailles? What’d you think? Comment below!
Posted on Wednesday, March 17, 2010
In France, Trip Reports, Versailles
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I went to Versailles a really long time ago right after college. I remembered how much I loved that place. I love the idea of biking there. It sounds like fun and probably the best way to tour this huge palace.
Great photos! Yes, been to Versailles with one of my daughters. I can’t recall if she was a teen at the time or not. I think she was. We both had just purchased new shoes in downtown Paris. I wore mine, my daughter was wiser and didn’t wear hers. My feet were “killing” me and the cobblestone courtyard didn’t help matters much. I would have enjoyed my visit much more if my feet were happier. It’s a totally amazing, unbelievable place. People say, “You’ll understand the French revolution after you see Versailles.” We had quite a time finding it…I guess we tried to find it all on our own without help or books or guides. Once we started asking around, we got lots of direction of where to go. In the link is Mark Twain’s take on Versailles. He said, after seeing it, he forgave King Louis for building it. God bless!
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I went to Versailles a really long time ago right after college. I remembered how much I loved that place. I love the idea of biking there. It sounds like fun and probably the best way to tour this huge palace.
I went to Versailles a really long time ago right after college. I remembered how much I loved that place. I love the idea of biking there. It sounds like fun and probably the best way to tour this huge palace.
I went to Versailles a really long time ago right after college. I remembered how much I loved that place. I love the idea of biking there. It sounds like fun and probably the best way to tour this huge palace.
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