September 28, 2022
Ride to Versailles
La Renaissance over the top
After our spin through the Bois de Vincennes yesterday, I'm excited about our visit to Versailles today. It gives us another bike destination via the Bois de Bologne, the other of Paris' two "lungs."
The route out of the city is straightforward, north over the Seine then west on bike lanes of the Rue de Rivoli and the Avenue Des Champs d'Elysees. There's a bit of excitement at the rotary around the Arc de Triomphe, a big whirl of fast traffic.
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From there it's a pleasant ride away from the cars and along the lake in the Bois de Bologne.
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In St. Cloud the route takes us to a dead end, requiring some backtracking and hiking up the residential footpaths but we find a way through.
Closer to Versailles a few sheep graze near the road. Terry has told us about the pink-dyed perfumed sheep that Marie Antoinette kept in her petit hameau getaway near the palace. Descendants?
Finally arriving in Versailles, there are no bike racks in sight but we spy a railing in a small corner of the building with a couple other bikes locked to it. We drop ours inside the railing, lock them up and scurry around to the golden gates.
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We're late to meet Terry and Mary Fran and rush through the first stages of the palace tour. I see why they wanted to meet early as the 11:00 tour buses have disgorged a horde of tourists. We finally catch up with them in the Hall of Mirrors.
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It's all a rather grand display of the excesses of the royals of the Ancien Regime before Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette lost their heads in the French Revolution. I'm ready to get back to the medieval part of our trip.
But first, lunch! The food in Paris never disappoints.
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Our morning ride to the palace and lunch are the highlights of the day for me. We've covered a lot of ground on foot and are happy to take the RER
Today's ride: 28 km (17 miles)
Total: 242 km (150 miles)
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