In Paris, that is; in the provinces it's different". For the hundred or so regulars of Le Fontenoy battling to save their bistro it is certainly different.
More than 20 years ago, I watched Johann Le Guillerm painfully battle his way across a floor balanced on the thin necks of eight wine bottles.
Pictorial styles of solid form in swirling space ill suit the flat textile medium, despite tours de force by Rubens and Le Brun (whose "Battle of the Granicus," designed in 1664-65, is a grand hoot).
Now on foot, the knights drew swords and returned to battle, Le Gris again proving stronger than his opponent and slowly gaining the upper hand.
But the French capital has a new weapon in its longstanding battle against les pipis sauvages, or wild peeing, the time-honoured if technically prohibited practice of urinating in the street, and its unsavoury accompanying odours.
Fillon will now battle against Le Pen, whom he expects to face in the 2017 presidential runoff.
Earlier this month Le Monde rode into battle once more, running a series of pieces claiming that the Belgian authorities were poised to drop all proceedings against her for lack of evidence.
His program chansons include "La Bataille de Marignan" ("La Guerre"), imitating sounds of battle; "Voulez ouir les cris de Paris," with Paris street cries; and "Le Chant des oiseaux," with the sounds of birds.
Across Europe, newspapers including Le Figaro are battling back against Metro by introducing their own free tabloid editions.
"It's got an underground soul," says Dryden, of a space that maintains a packed programme of leftfield cabaret, film, theatre and art events with upcoming gigs from Cate Le Bon and Battles.
