London, December 31: A French village called Carlat wants to twin itself with an Italian one called Bruni in honour of Carla Bruni, the First Lady of France.

Carlat is a picturesque settlement in the Auvergne region in the south of France, with a population of around 150.

It wants to celebrate Carla's success in improving popularity ratings of her husband, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, with constant appearances in the international

media.

Carla Bruni, the 41-year-old former model turned pop singer was born in Turin, but became her adopted country''s first lady in February following her marriage to the

53-year-old head of state.

And for that very purpose, the village decided on twinning itself with Bruni, in the mountainous Piedmont region, south of Turin.

"There were Brunis in Portugal, Austria, Switzerland, and the United States, and then we finally found one in Italy. I don''t know what the political colours of the local village

council are, but we''re all for finding out," the Telegraph quoted Alain Cousin, Carlat''s Communist mayor, as saying.

Cousin revealed that the entire council of Carlat were in favour of twinning with Bruni, which has roughly the same population.

He said that he had sent his proposal to his Italian counterpart, and hoped to hear from him soon.

He even revealed his plans to invite the First Lady to be guest of honour at any future twinning ceremony. (ANI)