I was sitting in the small Hotel du Nord in Bailleuil, a favourite lunch pit-stop after crossing into France on the Eurotunnel. The hotel restaurant will never aspire to a Michelin star but the manageress treats us like long-lost friends. We can pre-order her Pot au Feu even if it isn't on the menu.

What could upset such gastronomic tranquillity? It was in fact an early call from an ex-Lehman banker in New York. The buzz on Wall Street was that Lehman Brothers was about to make an announcement about an acquisition and that the Lehman target was none other than Bear Stearns.