Carla Bruni sits down on the sofa opposite me and places two used disposable vape pens on a table. “One is mint-flavoured, the other red fruits,” she says. “I adore to vape.” But then I notice the cigarette between her fingers. She pops it in her mouth, lights it and shuts her eyes, taking the longest drag, which she exhales with such intense pleasure, she might as well have just had sex. “Aaaaaaah,” she says, laughing guiltily, “I love a real one!”
Bruni, 54, is exquisite in the flesh. Earlier, when I’d arrived at the Left Bank studio where the shoot with Balmain’s creative director, Olivier Rousteing, is taking place, I had to stop myself from staring. Her long brunette hair is undone in a
