August 5. 2010
Up at 7:00, we got ready, and headed out the door at 8:30 for our bike tour we would be taking around Versailles. We arrived to the Fat Bike Tour office at 9:15 after catching not one, or two, but three different metro lines to get there, and hustling down some blocks. It definitely was a lot of good exercise! We grab a bike, meet the group, and start biking through the city. Luckily, the city of Paris is very flat, which makes biking a total breeze, and more of an enjoyable visit learning about others in the group. We get to the train station, grab our bikes and walk them down the stairs to the train, separate out, fit our bikes on the train, and ride for probably 20 minutes out to the country. Grab our bikes, and ride to the center of the city, where there are bread boulangeries, cheese and meat markets, and fresh fruit. Of course, all housed in beautiful ancient buildings. We start off the morning with our first crepe drenched in Nutella-not the best for needing to lose weight, but who cares this week!
We meet an hour later after everyone has shopped for their lunches at the open market, and we start biking toward it all! We bike for awhile, along a long dusty road lined with beautifully spaced tall trees for, and make our way to Marie Antoinette’s play area, where she had a village recreated including somewhat of a tree house built to play with her children. After consumating their marriage 7 1/2 years after their vows, Marie and King Louis the XVI had four children. To remember history, you can think of it this way…the XIV built it, the XV enjoyed it, and the XVI payed for it. King Louis the XVI and Marie had quite the homes to enjoy, but ultimately didn’t make very good choices concerning the kingdom, and payed a high price, in this case, their heads. Getting back to the tour, we take what pictures we can through the trees, and then head to the Grand & Petit Trianons. Beautiful smaller homes than Versailles, but in reality, very large, these homes offer a fantastic view into the original Versailles. We then bike around the most beautiful biking trail, same as before, lined with trees, it’s dreamy and you are not believing you’re actually in as beautiful place as you are seeing. We come to the canal, the largest pond I’ll ever see in front of one’s home I believe. We guess it to be longer than three football fields, in the shape of a t. We bike along side it, not knowing exactly where we are and where the chateau is at this point, and I film Jarom riding, to look over my left shoulder and see the most beautiful palace. We then bike to the farthest end of the canal, where our group parks our bikes, we gather our food, and picnic, watching people boating, staring at the chateau, and enjoying our fresh bread and goat cheese, pastries and fruit. We were the only one drinking water, which I’m surprised you can drink so much wine and still be ok driving! We finish our lunches after about an hour of great conversation and relaxation, get on our bikes, and bike down the other side of the t toward the chateau. We finally make our way to the entrance, and feel as though the world has suddently become gigantic leaving us very small. The best thing about this tour, was you get a small device, punch in the numbers that are displayed in each room, and you hear information about that room as you walk through it. The Chateau was beautiful, extremely lavish and large, and housed the Royal family until 1789, when the Revolutionaries forced them back to Paris. We eventually made our way to the Room of Mirrors, which I remember nothing about this room, but learned this was where King Louis the XIV had lavish parties, and was also the site of the signing of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919 that officially ended World War I. We finally make our way out of the chateau, and out to the gardens. I’ve never seen anything to massive, perfectly manicured, and so inviting in my life. I can’t believe this was all for one family. The original Versailles covered 2000 acres, so imagine most of this as beautiful manicured trees, hand dug canals, flowers, and shrubs-including a maze of shrubs you could get lost in!
We make our way to our bikes, ride to the bus station, and relax on our way home, enjoying our conversation with a family from Canada, celebrating the graduation of their daughter, who chose a trip to Paris as her gift. We are almost home, and decide to take the funicular up the mountain above our apartment, walk through a shop and buy a few more souvenirs, and walk down the winding streets of restaurants, shops, and beautiful memories.
For dinner, leftover goat cheese, baguettes, sandwiches, fruit and chocolate were a perfect end to our day. We climbed up to our bed in our loft, and relaxed watching a little more movie, and could hardly move, much less keep our eyes open, but what an amazing day. My favorite. Can’t wait to bring the girls. Is now my new happy place!