I am not sure I would have enjoyed spending a holiday weekend with Jean Monnet – I am, to my shame, far more hedonistic when it comes to food and drink – but I nevertheless see him as an inspirational figure with a curious blend of pragmatism and vision which is, I suppose, a three-word summary of the Monnet method. Monnet began his day with a walk – particularly if he had a thorny problem to think through. I cannot manage that sort of frequency but I certainly have my share of thorny problems. So this morning the dog took me for a walk. It was beautiful sunny spring weather. The farmers were preparing their fields to plant potatoes and larks trilled and soared in the sky. In rapid succession I saw fields full of hares, pheasants, lapwings, fieldfares, heron, geese in formation, finches, tits, sparrowhawks, woodpeckers and woodpigeons. It was, as Monnet had discovered, the perfect antidote. I came back feeling that I could take on anything the day threw at me (and, indeed, it did thow quite a lot at me). And all this just a ten-minute drive out of Brussels…