- I've never asked myself that question. It's a plus, of course, to be thought beautiful. But it didn't occur to me when I first started. I had never imagined being a model. My parents never told me that I was more beautiful than anyone else, and that I could or should do this job. In any case, beauty is not really important, it's charm that counts. What's inside of you has to show through.

- So, on top of everything else, you like to charm people?

- At school, I was always the one who made my friends laugh, and I was the one who got into trouble! At that time, when I was twelve or thirteen, I had a real hang-up about my nose, and I only wore jeans and shirts.

- You were a bit of a tomboy?

- Yes, and it's only when I started modeling and posing for photographers that I became more reserved in my behavior, and more feminine. That was when I started to really appreciate beautiful things. I loved changing clothes all the time!

- Are you crazy about clothes now?

- Yes, changing outfits puts me in a good mood! It's like a new day. I love to shop. Not necessarily for expensive stuff: It's fun to go to sales and flea markets, and to bring back bits and pieces from different places. It creates memories!

- Do you travel a lot?

- Yes, and that's why I always take a few favorite items of clothing with me wherever I go. I have a pair of striped knee-length pants that I love, they're so comfortable. I'm not myself in the clothes I have to wear for photographs, I'm playing a role. But when I get back into my own things, it's like being back at home.

- Is beauty care as important to you?

- My mother taught me to pay attention to all that, and to look after myself. When I travel, I always take specific products along. I like to have my things with me.

-So, what's in your makeup bag?

- The products I use are not necessarily the same brand. They happen to suit my hair, or my face, and they are generally very ordinary. To remove makeup, I use a baby bath lotion, which I buy at the pharmacy. I apply it to my face with a very pure, soft cotton wool, the usual cotton pads for removing makeup literally scratch my face! My skin tends to get dry, so I apply a very light cream, by Avene. For my lips, which are also often dry, I use a cream which contains vitamin A. Also, I always carry a spray bottle of Evian spring water.

- You don't use a body lotion?

- Yes, I use one by Neutrogena. They have excellent products that are specially adapted for sensitive skin. I also always have shower gel with me wherever I go.

- And for your hair?

- I prefer baby shampoo, but I change shampoos often, because I believe that you shouldn't get your hair accustomed to the same product. I mix the shampoo in my hand with a little water, and I wash the roots only so that the tips don't get dry.

- How often do you wash your hair?

- Every two or three days. Then I apply a conditioner, rinse it off, and leave it to dry naturally: To avoid damaging my hair, I don't ever use a hair dryer. When my hair looks really tired, I buy shea butter and give it a "mask." I leave it on for a while, with my head wrapped in a towel, then rinse it out.

- You cut your hair recently. Did that take courage?

- Well, I still can't believe that I did it! I was asked to cut it for an Elseve campaign, a very well-paid contract, which not too many girls get the chance to do. So I told myself that it didn't matter, and that it would grow back. When I got home afterwards, though, I wasn't happy at all; it felt so strange not to be able to run my fingers through the hair. And the next day, when I woke up and remembered, my heart gave a little squeeze. It felt as if a part of me had been cut away. But the hair is growing back, and it's a change.

- Are you disciplined about what you eat?

- Yes, in that I believe in sitting at the table and eating everything, like everybody else! I enjoy eating for the sake of eating. I travel all the time, and it's obvious that how you eat is very important: It gives you energy and strength, and helps to prevent you from getting sick! The girls who don't eat are always tired. I eat whenever I'm hungry or whenever I feel like it.

- Do you eat specific kinds of food?

- No. I live with my parents, and have a younger sister and a twenty-one-year-old brother. We're all at the table together, so I can't help but eat like them. Mealtimes are occasions to relax and be with the family.

- What's your favorite dish?

- I like everything; vegetables, fish, meat; although I'm not crazy about red meat. I love cake and cookies. I adore rice pudding with custard, which my mother makes. She also makes caramel custard, delicious!

- Cakes and cookies aren't a usual diet for a top model.

- I'm only eighteen. Why should I make myself miserable? Little by little I'll pay more attention. But I have a round body anyway. I've always been curvy. We'll see later...

- Do you exercise?

- I jog from time to time, and I walk a lot, which gives me energy for traveling. I also sleep a lot. But, actually, I'm quite hardworking. I can sleep until noon, but when I'm on a shoot, I can get up at 4 a.m. and stay up long past midnight.

- I'm sure that there are lots of girls who want to look like you. What about you? Did you ever identify with someone famous?

- Real beauty is to be true to oneself. That's what makes me feel good. There are lots of women, though, whom I adore. Like Brigitte Bardot in her early years. What I admire is that when she first started, she truly created an image of her own. What she did in her time was really daring! I haven't ever seen her in...And God Created Woman, but I've seen the photographs, and they are gorgeous! I also like Frida Kahlo for her personality and her courage. Both those women have real style, and lots of temperament!

- Like Brigitte Bardot, you're very sexy. You have a fantastic bust!

- I tell people that my breasts are "Made in Normandy," from butter and creme fraiche! (laughs)

- How do you feel about showing them in photographs?

- It doesn't bother me. Nudity is a natural state. It's when you hide your body that the whole issue becomes vulgar. We should be free with our bodies and be responsible. It sounds easy for me to say that, but I have flaws, like everyone else.

- What flaws?

- I have lots. My teeth, for example, aren't perfect. And my feet look like little sausages! But I can live with that! (laughs)

- How do you feel about about cosmetic surgery?

- I'm not in favor of it at all. I would think that it's like having a foreign body in your own. The best thing is to remain how you are. Nothing is more beautiful than what is natural. And beauty never belongs to anyone anyway, it passes.

- That's a nice way of putting it.

- It's true though. Beauty comes and goes. Sometimes, you're in love, and after you've made love, you are very beautiful. But those are only transient moments. That's life.

- Would you stop everything you're doing to have a baby?

- Yes. If having a child meant leaving it with a nanny while I traveled, I wouldn't want to have one. A child isn't a toy!

- So there will be little Laetitias?

- Yes, and little Napoleons! (laughs) I'd like to have a first child while I'm young, and my last one some-what later. Like my mother: She had my sister when she was thirty-six. And I'd like to have three or four kids, because I adore them. I've always known that I was made to have children. To be able to have a child is a great piece of luck. It's so beautiful, a child with the person you love.