I had an idyllic childhood in the Piedmont region of northern Italy. My family owned the Castello di Castagneto Po near Turin, where we would entertain guests like Maria Callas. I still have a great affection for that beautiful area.

Paris is a city of great physical and cultural beauty. I moved there as a student. I recall meeting the legendary songwriter Serge Gainsbourg in the street. He was a quintessential Parisian and had been a mythical figure for me since I was nine years old.

Cannes is a funny place. I’ve been to the film festival many times. Last year I went to support my sister Valeria. She is quite a famous actress and had a film out. When you’re in Cannes, you never know where you might spend the next few nights. There always seems to be someone with spare room on their yacht.

Africa has an innocence that I like. You don’t really find it anywhere else on your travels. I have a good friend who comes from the Ivory Coast, and she doesn’t even know the exact date or year she was born. ‘I know that I was born when the river ran dry,’ she says. What a beautiful way to live your life.

I like to lose myself in literature when travelling. As a model I was always going places. Reading Dostoevsky or one of the great poets like WH Auden, Yeats or Emily Dickinson relaxes me when I’m on-the-go. I just fall in love with the beauty of their words. On flights, I’m buckled in, ready for take-off, but my head is elsewhere.

I’m keen to visit Stratford because I have such a love of Shakespeare. My friend Marianne Faithfull, or ‘my dear professor’ as I like to call her, insists that I read a couple of his sonnets every day.

Walk everywhere whenever possible. That’s my best travel tip to anyone visiting somewhere new. Paris is a great example. You must walk the streets to really explore the heart of it.

I’m a much happier person when I’m outdoors. I might use a hotel gym occasionally but I prefer real, outdoor sports, like running, walking or skiing.

Carla’s second album and her first in English is No Promises (Dramitco Records). Interview by Andrew Threlfall.

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Article by Carla Bruni