Winter took breaks in the fall, too, back when this picture was taken. That’s the Chartreuse in the background.

Winter took a short break for a few days last week, giving us a chance to dust off our bicycles and hit the dusty rue. Kinsey has been crazy for biking recently, putting it right up there in her Personal Pantheon of Pleasant Pastimes with swimming and playing Hack-A-Mom defense on the basketball court, much like she just did in that picture over there – dig Mom’s pained wince.

Grenoble, despite being surrounded by vertiginous Alpen wonder much like that shown in the background of the photo above, actually claims to be the flattest major city in Europe, a title I didn’t realize anyone was actually vying for until just recently. Couple this with the staggering abundance of dedicated bike paths and it’s by far the easiest place to get around on bicycle I’ve ever visited. That’s right, Amsterdam and Copenhagen – step off.

Even with so much valley floor to explore, there are the few odd hills places where you could put a ball down and it would actually roll. Kinsey and I were entering hour two of our Sunday pedal when Quinn and Kristanne joined us after wrapping up an epic homework session. Together, the four of us climbed one such incline where we’d never been before. There, hanging out at the top of the “hill” were those two cool cats you see below, styling and profiling in their Ferrari and their Jeep, rocking a look so ice cold that you just knew there was a whole chateau full of similar rides back home, each one kicking it on the same 1:8 scale, boasting full foot power, and miles of plastic chassis that just won’t quit.

this one’s mine…you gotta get your own down at king jouet, bro

The best part about these guys was their stone confidence. They were just parked in the middle of the bike path, not moving for no one. Sure, they’re both at least 5 years past the target demographic for these cars, but that’s not stopping them, not one bit. With the right pair of sunglasses and the right pose, they positively owned what they were doing.

got any over-stretched analogies you can pull from all of this?

i’m pretty sure this is the look that made the US want to go into vietnam, too…

It worked, too. They actually didn’t seem ridiculous. They even kinda made me want to get a car like this and hang out on bike paths with my buddies, too. This is sort of the apotheosis of French cool, where you can take something inherently ridiculous, something that works on no logical level, and then, by virtue of your own irresistible and undeniable savoir faire, sell that vision to the world. Hence, for example, the life arc of Napoleon and, the, uh, enduring popularity of Gérard Depardieu.

see ya next time!

We’re hanging in le G this weekend, hammering out a full slate of kids sports and skiing. See ya next time on the Odyssey, when I’ll potentially address Kristanne’s purchase of a Celine Dion album. It’s still too early for me to talk about it. Bon week-end à toutes et tous!