One term for President Nicolas Sarkozy enough: Carla Bruni

"As his wife, one mandate is enough. If he wants to stand, that's his business. We never talk about it because I don't think I should get involved in that kind of thing. It's all very complicated, and it's his job.

"It would be like him sticking his nose in and suggesting I write a song in a major or minor key, when that's my business. My husband can do anything as he puts his all into everything he does and that's how you succeed in life. "He gives everything he has in his work and his love life, and that is amazing for a woman and amazing for a nation. So, really I'm just content that the French have him as president at all.

"He is a complete and well-rounded person, and that's obvious the second he walks into a room. I think if he was a carpenter, he'd be the best carpenter. Giving everything is how one succeeds in professional and private life," Bruni told French TV channel 'TF1'.

The 41-year-old former supermodel-turned singer, who married Sarkozy in February 2008 after a three-month whirlwind romance, also spoke of how happy they were as a couple. "Our life has changed. I have calmed our lives. Our private life is very gentle, very calm and very tranquil. I'm better with him than alone, and that's something I could never have imagined saying when I was young," British newspaper 'The Daily Telegraph' quoted her as telling the TV channel.

Responding to criticism that a recent poll found 51 per cent of the French felt she was "remote" from the people, Bruni said: "I feel close to the French. perhaps they don't feel close because of all the photographs that look so staged. They don't see me as I really am."