I am visiting Bernay in July from Chartres. On the way back, I'd like to stop for the Thursday July 4 market in Versailles. I can't seem to find a train schedule that will take me from Bernay to Versailles. I see how to get from Versailles to Chartres, but not from Bernay to Versailles. Or even from Paris to Versailles (Bernay-Paris-Versailles-Chartres). Anyone have experience? Thank you!

https://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en?ld=40250&country=GBR&protocol=httpsrt=1&OK#fo cus

Use the German Railways pan-European train schedule site - www.bahn.de/en - short for above link.

It will take you about 2.5 hours to get from Versailles to Bernay with usually 2-3 changes - some go via Mantes-la-Jolie and some via Paris St Lazare - well you can figure it out.Check on what of three Versailles stations to leave from.

For lots on trains check www.oui.sncf - French Rail site - www.seat61.com; BETS-European Rail Experts and www.ricksteves.com. Those should be trains that are a flat fare and don't take seat reservations - commuter trains - just buy tickets at Bernay station for all the route if possible.

What Thursday, July 4, market? Do you mean the indoor, everyday market? It's really not worth a stop. It's like 1,000 other markets in France. The outdoor market in Versailles that is worth visiting runs on Tuesday, Friday, and Sunday.

There are trains from Bernay to Versailles. Check them out on www.trainline.com. From Versailles to Paris the easiest way is on the RER.

I really don't think going to Versailles for a market is a viable idea on a Thursday.

BTW, I just read your previous post. Why are you spending a week in Chartres? Relatives there?

https://www.google.com/search?q=char...w=1280&bih=625

Chartres also has the unique Maison de la Picassiette - an acclaimed work of Art Naive - done by a street cleaner dubbed Picassiette by neighborhood kids as a derogatory feminized form of Picasso. In his duties he collected broken glass and anything he thought would help him turn his house into a Chartres Cathedral themed place - when the house was full he moved to the garden:

And Chartres also has La Petite Venise - lovely old port area with ancient edifices along a canal:

https://www.google.com/search?biw=12...mg.3z9BazDS25w

Great for kids with games and pedalos to rent.

BTW, I just read your previous post. Why are you spending a week in Chartres? Relatives there?>

Sounds like they're staying in Bernay not Chartres as I read it?

No Pal . . . the OP posted on another thread (to which you replied BTW). >>I am staying a week in Chartres and so am researching going to Versailles from there. I am reading that there is a fantastic market in walking distance from the Palace, if you like that sort of thing ... anyone who has been want to comment on that?<<

My spouse is taking a week-long class in Chartres. I will visit a friend in Bernay for a few days, was trying to visit Versailles on the way back. THANK YOU for letting me know that the food market is not on Thursday, as that is my interest. I will train out the hour from Chartres again on Friday to spend the day there.

I appreciate everyone's suggestions! Any more Chartres recommendations are welcome.

AA

Malcolm Miller's cathedral tours are legendary - been doing for centuries now it seems:

Cathédrale de Chartres

I don't really know why you cannot find a train schedule from Bernay to Versailles. You can go to the SCNF website and stick those two place names in the from/to boxes and find options. You have to transfer in Mantes-la-Jolie for the shortest route, but there aren't direct trains between every two towns in France. Otherwise, you'd have to go all the way back into Paris and then transfer most of the time. That is a small commune and there isn't any reason it would have a direct rail line to Versailles, it isn't logically in the same direction.

The problem is the only efficient schedule is in the morning, leaving Bernay at 8:26 am. The rest of the day, you just have to go into Paris and transfer stations, not a good idea, takes too long. There are several choices but they all take about 4 hrs total. I'd forget this market idea.