Escrime, you scream...

On Paris Plage this year there is a fencing (escrime) workshop for kids. "Attaquez!" said the teacher, and les enfants obliged, each with an enthusiasm roughly correlated with their age.


Modern fencing has origins in France (though Italy and Spain are also implicated), and many of the terms are French. There's a lot of "allez" and "en garde". But so far this year France hasn't been doing that well in the fencing events at the Olympics. The only one to medal thus far has been France's Fabrice Jeannet, who lost the final in men's épée yesterday and was visibly devastated.

On the other hand, the US women swept the medals in women's sabre. Not bad for a country without fencing workshops.