I recognised most of the gang members in a vague way. I definitely recognised François Cluzet and I decided another chap had been in Amélie. I watched as they planned the post office heist, but also as the police and post office officials kept an eye on what they were up to.

On the day of the raid, the gang broke into a locked cupboard and pulled out piles of undelivered post. They then attached a 100 franc note to each letter as ‘compensation’ for late delivery. Even the police had to applaud the gang for their generous gesture and the officials at the post office had to explain why so much post had been undelivered and hidden away.

Before the gang left, they loaded their canvas bags with uncooked pork short ribs.