“Le footing” is what the French call jogging. The use of an English word – albeit the wrong English word – showing that this is something fundamentally alien to the culture, and above all the political culture, of France.

Then Sarkozy comes along. He does not smoke. He does not drink. And, oh dear, he jogs.

The promenade (a French word, please note, that has made it into English) is the only physical activity that becomes the thinker. Aristotle walked. Kant walked. The poet Rimbaud liked to go for a stroll – because it makes it easier to think, to meditate, to converse. Jogging, on the other hand, is mere body management, devoid of spirituality or sensitivity

And Mr Sarkozy? He seems to have forgotten he is the president of the country that invented the 35-hour working week. Where leisure is – for the time being at least – imposed by law.

He is that freak of nature: the French workaholic. He is at a loss with time off.

Now, he’s on vacation in the United States. Unencumbered by the French Press. Unchallenged by American Media. Perfectly free to read something trite about macro-economics – or go jogging.