When we walked out of Nantes railway station it all came back to me – especially the crocodiles that I used to pet in secret in the middle of the night when I sneaked into the zoo after hours.

My father gathered all our luggage at the roadside and instructed me to call a taxi to take us to the poshest restaurant in town. I objected on the basis that my mother and boyfriend were shattered after our long journey. However, my father insisted that I fight with Chinese women queuing at the kerb and hail the first cab to come around the corner. This was not as easy a job as he predicted.