In Versailles, let them ride bikes

I was riding along trails laid out for French monarchs, a bottle of wine and a day's lunch on my back. But where Louis XIV rode a horse, I had a humble beach cruiser.

The clash between the formal surroundings and my comfortable bicycle somehow made both better. My bike paths that day were on the grounds of the Palace of Versailles, a former hunting lodge on the outskirts of Paris that Louis XIV turned into an opulent symbol of the power of the French crown. Now the palace and its formal gardens are one of the country's most-visited sites.

As with many other stops around Paris, the stifling summer crowds can quickly overwhelm anyone who braves a tour on foot. On a bike, however, it's a different story. Because the palace was built with traveling by horseback in mind, the spread-out grounds are much more manageable on two wheels. A 30-minute trudge on foot is cut down to five by bike, allowing a visitor to experience the serenity of the gardens without wondering where the next bench is.

Fat Tire Bike Tours is one of several companies that offer daylong group tours of the palace grounds. I arrived just before 9 a.m. at its office near the Eiffel Tower and was given my choice of three-speed bikes. The tour guide, Karl, shepherded 20 of us on a 10-minute ride through the streets of Paris to a train station, where we hefted our bikes aboard.

Half an hour later, we were in the town of Versailles. We left our bikes with Karl (not the first time that he would have bike-sitting duty that day) and spent almost an hour browsing through the farmers market, picking out the fresh baguettes, cheese and strawberries that would make up our picnic later.

SIGHTSEEING BY BIKE

Over the next two hours, it felt as if the place was ours alone. We pedaled through rolling green fields, past white horses and shorn sheep, all under the soft green canopy of rows of towering trees. Karl occasionally stopped the group and gave us a short background on the sites we were passing, from a pink marble mini-chateau built by Louis XV to the bizarre fake rustic village that Marie Antoinette ordered built as her personal playground.

We spread out for a group picnic, with the grand Chateau visible in the distance. A ticket to the Chateau was a part of the tour package, so Karl stayed behind with the bikes while we spent the next hour and a half exploring on our own before we headed back to Paris, arriving in the city by 5:30 p.m.

It's hard to find a gold-laden palace disappointing, but after the wonderful bike ride, the Chateau was the biggest letdown of the day. While it was a historical treat to stand in the room where the treaty ending World War I was signed, I couldn't help but look out the windows, wanting nothing more than to spend a couple more hours bicycling through the sunny playground of kings.

IF YOU GO

FAT TIRE BIKE TOURS

fattirebiketours.com

COST About $115 (includes train fare, bike rental, Chateau admission)

Tours leave rain or shine and last about eight hours. Expect to walk one to two miles and bike about seven. Reservations required.