Didier Ratsiraka takes a well-deserved holiday

The former president of Madagascar, Didier Ratsiraka, has decided to get away from all the trouble at home and a stressful few months following the general election and take a holiday in France, we can reveal.

Mr Ratsiraka has reportedly been very tense following his loss of office after 26 years in power and despite his best efforts at civil war, has had to face the looming prospect of retirement. A source close to the ex-president told us that Ratsiraka will use his holiday in France to decide what to do next.

Travelling around in a group of 20, Ratsiraka and his aides plan to visit the Loire Valley on a bike-riding holiday. Staying at the famous fortified chateau at Amboise, Mr Ratsiraka must be hoping to draw inspiration from another famous guest of the town — Leonardo da Vinci.

Frequently confused with movie actor namesake di Caprio, da Vinci was an inventor and painter from the 1500s and spent the last three years of his life in a manor house in the town. It now contains some of his inventions and original notes.

However, Mr Ratsiraka is more likely to use his time to plot the assassination of current president Marc Ravalomanana, whose surname has five "a"s to Ratsiraka's three. Mr Ravalomanananana will meanwhile no doubt attempt to rebuild the country's fragile economy and broken infrastructure through the radical policy of simply not shooting people.

Mr Ratsiraka is in no hurry though, as pictures taken showing him relaxing with his wife at a St Etienne café show. If he likes the country, an aide revealed, he may even stay there indefinitely to save himself from being imprisoned or murdered.