What map are you looking at that suggests that Versailles is "loosely on the way to Vichy?" Versailles is about a half-hour RER ride to the west of Paris. Vichy is about 4 hours southeast. Yikes. Why is that "hard to tell from the map?"

And no, no one should land in Paris after an all-night flight and go straight to Versailles.

You can go to the official Vichy tourist office site to find out what there is to do there and in the vicinity.

You really do need to start over, get a decent map, a good guidebook, and make a realistic plan.

There are a few train options from Vichy to Lyon, some involving two connections. Make your reservations online 3 months out from your train travel to get the best prices at www.voyages-sncf.fr.

Google maps might give you itineraries with time and distance that include a public transportation option.

Well we landed in Paris in the early morning...and got the AirFrance bus into Paris...got off at the Arc dT stop..then
actually WALKED down to the RER C stop at the Pont d'Alma ( a refreshing winter morning too!) and headed right to Versailles..and walked to our hotel.
Spent several days there...enjoyed the "small town" and the Palace...then rented a car & started traveling.
Of course...that was "then" and would I do that again ? Yes, but maybe I would take a cab to the RER station. PS: Plenty of people were walking & rolling their suitcases down the streets that
morning.

You spent several days in Versailles? Well,that's novel, and possibly quite interesting, but not out of the question, I guess. But doesn't seem to comport with the OP's original question, which indicates he doesn't have a decent map.

Nottingham, thank you for your response which offered some experience and insight. That is exactly what I was looking for and why I go to these sites. It is always interesting when making travel plans, how differently people can see things.

Thanks again for your help. I know it will be a long day, but I think we will follow your advice and try it out. It sounds like your itinerary is very close to what I had in mind.

My intent was to decide between: 1. staying in Paris for a night then heading out, 2. finding something slightly outside of Paris to do for a night, or 3. to just head straight to Vichy. By loosely on the way, I meant we could go to versailles without going to far out of our general direction. I am sorry my terms seemed to have gotten you all worked up.

Paris to Vichy is 4 hours and 4 minutes. Paris to Versailles to Vichy adds 16 minutes to the total trip.

Also, if we went straight to the Versailles area, it would be to our hotel, then do the actual palace the following Sunday. We would be hopping on the train to go from airport to Paris anyway.....

I'm not "worked up." Your directions are a bit clueless, though. Go for it!

I'm confused. You're planning to arrive at CDG, take the RER to Versailles but not visit the chateau that day. Check into a hotel and then go to Vichy the next day?

If this is correct, and depending on what time you land, why not go directly to Vichy and get the long journey over during a day when you have nothing planned. You can grab some food and drink before boarding the train and doze on the train, arriving fresh in Vichy without the intermediary stop in Versailles. There are trains from Paris-Bercy that have no connections and take less than 3 hours.

Adrienne,
Originally we were planning on flying into Lyon, but could not get schedules to work. So we switched to Paris. Since we have already done Paris, my original thought was to do what you mentioned, going straight to Vichy. But the girls have not done Versailles, so since it is just a little off the path, wondering if we should do that. We arrive in Paris around 11:50 AM. So head to Versailles and have meal, hotel (mayabe a napand walk around town. Do the chateau on Sunday and head to Vichy that evening. If we do that, the real question is transportation. I had originally planned on trains, but it looks like we would have to head back to Paris to cathc a train towards Vichy. If I get a car, we might be able to come up with an interesting route from Versailles.

I am always enchanted by people who have "done" Paris and can just leave it off easily because they have seen it all!! I've never been able to do that personally!!
You say "girls"--is your daughter also coming to meet you in Paris to see Versailles?
Rent a car at CDG and drive.
There is always the possibility of just not going to Versailles. I would suspect that in March the gardens will not be spectacular.

Maybe I've overlooked the day you're arriving in your posts. I'm guessing that Sunday is the day after you arrive? That would make sense of the trip to Versailles.

I would rent a car at CDG and drive to Versailles for the overnight. It seems that all connections from Versailles to Vichy need to go through Paris and that is understandable given the short distance between Versailles and Paris.

Can't you schedule your trip during your daughter's break from classes? Doesn't she have Holy Week off (last week in March)? You should be able to find out when she has her mid semester break by contacting the school (the US school).

Yes i would like my older daughter to meet us in Versailles, and i thought she might prefer some days out of Vichy, and she would happily do Versailles knowing i was paying. I would have loved to time my vacation with hers however, i teach and younger daughter is in high school, so we are going on our break, which we decided was better than not going at all.

I think I will look into driving. I think from what i am hearing it makes more sense, although every other trip we have done trains, so the driving thing makes me a bit nervous...only because i havent done it. THe first trip the trains made me nervous...now i LOVE taking the trains.

Thanks for all the chat. It really does help!