I didn’t believe JG when he said that he would give up smoking for our Caribbean holiday. A victim of peer pressure in Strasbourg (so it appeared to me, at least), he’d been addicted to the deadly habit since 1984.

“Won’t you be miserable without cigarettes?” I enquired.

“No, I’ll be fine”, he assured me.

“So why do you smoke at all?” I asked, mindful of the cost and health risks.

“Because smoking is cool” he replied.