I get up at 6.59am. Well, that's when the clock goes off because then I can hear France Music's news of the day at 7 o'clock. I like to have breakfast with my wife. I take my time getting ready for the day and eating breakfast. I make Chinese green tea, the proper way with a Chinese teapot. I always have an apple from my garden, often half a grapefruit. I have toast with real butter and real jam. I don't believe in substitutes.
I'm travelling for a large part of the year. Last year I was away for 126 days. About a third of the time is spent in Europe, a third in Asia and a third in the Americas. It's a lot, but I like it.
Over breakfast my wife likes to read Le Figaro, but it can arrive in Cognac up to a day late. I don't want to go into the details, but the postal workers in France don't always want to push a non-lefty newspaper. I read the local Sud West [newspaper]. I also read the International Herald Tribune, which is my favourite newspaper. The IHT usually arrives on the day [of publication], but I don't get it before lunchtime. By about 8.30am I leave for the office. I used to cycle, but I don't often do that nowadays. Basically I'm too lazy. I can get to the office by bike in 15 minutes. By car, door-to-door, it takes the same amount of time because of having to park and walk to the office. I think driving is a waste of time. I take the train or public transport as much as possible because I can read. When we go out, my wife often drives because then I can have a couple of drinks. On top of that, I find driving the most boring thing in the world.
I get to the office at about 9am. On my desk are the press cuttings of all the important articles relating to our business. I also use the internet to get news, follow things up and communicate with my people across the world. I'm a big fan of the internet. I use it a lot. Much of my work is digesting what I have been doing, writing reports, communicating with employees and planning my next trip. I meet a lot of people during the day. I don't take a mid-morning break, but sometimes I might go out of the office to take care of personal things because I am away so much.
I am a farmer, I run the local music society and I am captain of the rowing club. I have two vineyards, which total about 70 hectares. One is where my garden is; that's why I bought it because it's all around me. The other one is 40km away. Both vineyards supply cognac to Hennessy. One I inherited from my great grandfather, who purchased it before the first world war, so it's been supplying cognac to Hennessy for many years.
I help to organise the six concerts the music society holds each year. We try to break even but we, the organisers, don't get paid; we do it for pleasure. The music is what you could call classical music, but we've done jazz and blues. We are one of only two private societies in France who organise concerts for the public. I leave the office at 12.25pm because then I can listen to the France Music news at 12.30 while I am in the car. If my wife is at home we have lunch together. We have a good meal of meat or fish with vegetables and we have fruit such as apples, grapes and pears, which I grow in my garden.
Alternatively, I might have a quick lunch and check my vineyard. It's a fascinating job and very humane; it's not a big factory producing cars. You see and smell the changes as the grapes grow and the wines ferment. By the end of next year, we will be able to store the ageing cognac in my courtyard. Sometimes I have a business lunch. When I am with other people I like to have a glass of cognac either before the meal, because it whets your appetite, or after. When I am entertaining you can be sure I'll drink a glass of cognac. I don't have a favourite Hennessy cognac. They are like my children; I love them all equally.