Franco-German relations will recover. The ties that bind the antagonists of 1870, 1914 and 1939 are too fundamental to the stability of Europe to be put into question. But for that very reason, last weekend's squabble in Brussels has sent a shiver of unease throughout the EU.
There have been other rocky moments since de Gaulle and Adenauer started bi-annual meetings back in 1963, and French officials hope the one-day 71st Franco-German summit that started in Avignon last night can dispel the ill will created by the fight over the European Central Bank governor's nomination.
Thanks to Mr Chirac's obstinacy in Brussels monetary union became, for once, a human story of betrayal and a battle of wills - the word used by the French press is "psychodrama". The ambiance in Avignon would not be festive. No one would dance on the Avignon Bridge, the economic daily La Tribune predicted in an allusion to the children's nursery rhyme.
When President Chirac greeted Dr Kohl on the Place de l'Horloge yesterday evening, what imprecations went through the German Chancellor's mind? Their first conversation was to take place in the wedding room of the town hall - a romantic place to make up, aides joked. In preparation for the May 18th EU-US summit in London, they were to discuss European-American relations over a working dinner. But at the little table shared only by the French President and Prime Minister and the Chancellor, one could imagine Dr Kohl thinking, if not saying: "Jacques how could you . . .?"
Germany would remember last weekend, Liberation, the only French paper that criticised Mr Chirac, warned. "When Chancellor Kohl was in difficulty and his public opinion was reticent towards the euro, Chirac shoved his head under water," Jean Quatremer and Pascal Riche wrote. "Helmut Kohl has been badly repaid for the support he gave the French President when he resumed nuclear tests. Chirac is going to help elect another Socialist government. In Germany this time."
With the exception of Liberation, the French media toed the government line. For the first two days it was almost as if the Battle of Brussels had not happened. Le Monde called the row "an anecdote" and yesterday denounced the "media hysteria" it has provoked outside France.
At the Foreign Ministry and the Elysee presidential palace, officials repeated that the markets have not reacted negatively as proof that the German and AngloSaxon press blew things out of proportion. "There is no crisis between Paris and Bonn," Mr Pierre Moscovici, the Minister Delegate for European Affairs, said.
"The important things that happened in Brussels deserve more coverage than this question of nominations," Mr Chirac's spokeswoman, Ms Catherine Colonna said. "The tree mustn't hide the forest."
French political sources say Mr Chirac used the ultimate threat in Brussels, making it clear that he would use his veto against Mr Wim Duisenberg's nomination if he didn't get his way. Dr Kohl sacrificed himself on the altar of Europe, and no one is thanking him for it. We all knew there was little loyalty in politics. Mr Chirac may have reasoned that in any case Dr Kohl is likely to be out of office at the end of September, so did it matter destroying their friendship?