Because we are French
...It was just over three-and-a-half years ago that he first gave us a piece of paper, suggesting we add that venerable blue cheese to our daughter Maya's diet.

For - this being Paris - he gave her marks for elegance and charm. One time he decided she was a "belle poulette", on another occasion a "lovely little lady" - written in English.

Rather sadly, I was more concerned about how he'd rated her poise than whether he'd decided that she had some terrible disease.

And then - in no time at all - Maya went from being a charming baby to a boozing toddler.

When we asked our local boulangerie to bake a cake for her third birthday party, we were bemused, shall we say, when the impressive gateau came infused with unmistakeable aroma of Grand Marnier. One bite was enough to tell us that it was soaked in the stuff.

It turns out that this is common practice. In fact, the lady who runs Maya's nursery has a strict rule about birthdays - parents can only bring homemade cakes.

"I don't want a load of drunken kids on my hands," she says. [BBC]

As Robin Williams would say - Why are you doing this? Because we are french...!! Oh boy I love BBC for filing these amusing reports...