If, like me, you were puzzled by the ludicrous spectacle of the French President drooling over the British constitution on his first State Visit, then here is the explanation: he was crazed by sex, having taken up with his new wife, the delectable Carla Bruni. Confirmation of this is provided by a new book, Carla and Nicholas: The True Story, due out in France this week.

Excerpts in Le Point make the, er, point. “It was instant”, Carla told the book’s authors. “I didn’t expect anyone so funny, so lively. His physique, his charm and his intelligence seduced me. He has five or six brains.”

This startling neurological discovery was made at the fateful dinner where the couple first met. “The president had eyes only for [Bruni]”, one of the other guests told the authors. “Several times, Carla Bruni’s hair grazed the president… Not only is Nicholas Sarcozy subjugated by her, he’s absolutely crazy… He doesn’t stop flattering her all evening…They act as if they’re alone in the room. Nothing else and no one else matters to them. The dinner ends around 2am. Carla’s obviously tipsy; she’s really drunk and smoked a lot! At the end of the meal, she asks the president if he has a car”.

Thanks to today’s Irish Times for this important information.