French toilet habits - just in case you were interested!

When you visit someone at home in France and they tell you they're nipping off to the loo (forget about why they would inform you in the first place) don't imagine it's just a case of relieving themselves.

Far from it, if a recent survey conducted by the polling organisation Ifop (L'Institut français d'opinion publique) on behalf of a loo paper manufacturer is to be believed.

Almost half of those questioned - 44 per cent to be precise - said they spent time "sitting on the throne" quietly reflecting...and reading.

Before you think flicking through the pages of a favourite magazine is all the French do while they're supposed to be going about their "business", think again, as eight per cent of those questioned also admitted that they used the "moment" to make a telephone call.

And 28 per cent think it's a place in the house which "deserves even closer attention" which is not too much of a surprise considering that 56 per cent of respondents said they made a mental note of how others' maintained their WCs.

You have been warned.

So now you know what the French get up to in the privacy of the smallest room in the house.

Fascinating!