The first of April arrives this weekend with its Poisson d’avril when children try to stick a paper fish upon their friend’s back. This French tradition dates back to the introduction of the modern-day Gregorian calendar in 1564 by Charles XIV, when fishy pranks were played on foolish peasants who clung to their old custom of celebrating New Year in late March.

What better time to celebrate fish? These nutritional powerhouses, especially fatty fish, are packed full of bone growth boosting Vitamin D and Omega 3s that seem to shield us miraculously from heart disease, depression, dementia and macular degeneration.

With fish in mind, my partner and I head to the Roquebrune-Cap-Martin beach hotel designed by the 1920s society queen Elsa Maxwell: the Monte-Carlo Beach Hotel. We’re dining at the eponymously named restaurant Elsa. Restaurant tables border the crescent-shaped outdoor terrace, but Le Mistral is blustering around the headland so we take shelter inside.

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