Carla Uncensored

France’s former first lady Carla Bruni on her life after politics, raising two children, and covering AC/DC.

- Marshall Heyman

There are many enchanting things about the onetime resident of the Élysée Palace, the singer songwriter and model Carla Bruni, but how she refers to her husband might take the gâteau. She calls him “my man.”

That would be Nicolas Sarkozy, the former president of France. Take these moments, for instance: “Even when my man was the president, I’d take the Metro and go anywhere,” Bruni says of her life in Paris, enjoying a luxurious French puff from an e-cigarette. (“This is what you use if you want to get rid of the addiction,” she explains.)

As for his vices, “my man doesn’t drink at all. He’s never had a sip of alcohol in his life,” Bruni says. “He’s just never tasted it. It’s better for me when I don’t drink either.”

To stay in shape, “I do barre, Pilates, yoga. When I was younger I would just sit around smoking and eat McDonald’s. But I get embarrassed when I’m out of shape. I wouldn’t care if I wasn’t a public person, but I still get people photographing me. My man does it a lot too.”