French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Wednesday that his health was good as he has returned to work after his collapse while jogging at the weekend, but acknowledged that he needed a rest.

Sarkozy will start a three-week summer holiday this weekend, flying south to a family villa of his wife, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, on the Mediterranean.

The residence, on the secluded promontory of Cap Negre, near the resort town of Saint-Tropez, is a solid masonry built on a rock headland.