Naive is a French Word

I really do applaud the French. They are an active group- they walk nearly everywhere, they watch how much they eat, and in my six weeks of being here I've seen maybe 2 people that could be classified as obese.
I see many of them on bikes.

Now then, obviously this is a population that thinks through the ramifications of their actions so I am astounded at their idea of "securing" their bikes. Observe:


I laughed out loud when I first saw this. These short poles designed to keep cars off the grass have no top and it would take all of 4 seconds to pick a bike, lift it up four feet from its tether, and cruise away on your brand set of wheels. Many are secured so that they could be easily ridden:



Perhaps they are just a trusting group. Honestly, Angers has a very low crime rate, and if I had never lived in Ypsilanti perhaps I would never have found this peculiar. However, this is my favorite- which I get to see nearly every week parked outside the University Cafeteria:

Brilliant.