Advice 1 - take them to court in attempt to get the money. It is by no means certain that you would win - the rules are so badly written that Air France could be right. A test case would be useful though.
Advice 2 - forget this compensation culture and get on with your life instead of festering on here about it.
I do think you are wrong about your entitlements BTW, ( I don't think you have any) but the way the rules are written makes it very difficult to tell. They are certainly written with delays PRIOR to departure in mind and don't say much about delays en route.