Michel Roux's holiday heaven and hell My wife and daughter. When I'm away I try very much to relax and unwind. I still cook when I'm away and I don't hand over kitchen duties to my wife. When I'm in my house in France, I carry on cooking but obviously it's far more relaxed than my day-to-day professional cooking life. I always pack my running gear with me - a pair of trainers, socks, shorts and a T-shirt. And wherever I go, I endeavour to go for a run. I've done 10 London Marathons and 17 marathons in total and I love to run, wherever I am. I usually have very little time to read, so I do like to take books on holiday and I'll generally stick to autobiographies. My favourite one recently is Alex Ferguson's memoirs, which was very inspiring. He's not one to shirk in front of hard work, as we can see from Manchester United's success, and his single mindedness, focus and attention to detail have been pivotal in what they've achieved. They're very much the qualities we look for in chefs. Split your suitcases so if the airline does lose a suitcase at least you can fall back on one. So in other words put underwear in both of them, put a bit of everything in all the suitcases. Don't just have one suitcase full of shirts because Sod's law is that that suitcase will get lost. I've heard a lot of positive things about Vietnam and I'd love to visit and perhaps go on a trek there. It's got a fascinating history and culture too and, of course, the food is fantastic. That's definitely next on my list. It was one of the first holidays with my wife. We went to Mallorca on a last minute package deal and it was pretty terrible. The hotel had paper thin walls so you could hear everything that was going on in the next room, it was knotted hankies on your head and union jack shorts. Not right at all. The food was also pretty shocking too but I tend not to say anything when that happens. I just move on quietly and make sure I don't return. What's your worst experience on holiday? I do remember going to India a while back and catching a very, very severe case of Delhi belly. It's the most sick I've ever been and unfortunately it ruined our New Year's Eve celebrations. I spent the entire night and following day on the toilet or in between the toilet and the basin, which was not a pleasant experience. It was very quick and very nasty and it was a shame because it put a dampener on the whole trip. India is such a beautiful country with such wonderful people and great cuisine but I got unlucky. I was going to Mauritius a few years back and I had to pack some bottles of very expensive champagne for a special function I was organising. I packed them in my suitcase with lots of bubble wrap around them but when we got to Mauritius airport, my case was not there. The carousel was going round and round and there was a case that was very similar to mine. Eventually I picked it up but it wasn't mine. It was someone else's suitcase. Thankfully there was a name on the case and we managed to track him down to a hotel on the other side of the island and we exchanged cases. I don't think he knew what was in the suitcase or he may not have agreed to hand them back. And the worst hotel you've stayed in? I don't want to name names, or even countries, but there have been a few horror stories. The worse one ever was when I was going for a swim in the hotel pool and a group of rats joined me. At that moment I thought, "What the hell am I doing here?" I'm not even going to tell you what continent it was but the rats were the size of greyhounds. What do you avoid on holidays? If I go on holiday I want to eat local produce. Very often in these big international hotels, they don't offer anything local - so you'll get spaghetti bolognese on menus in Kuala Lumpar, for example, which is horrendous. If I see a menu like that I just walk out and go and find some street food. Coming back. I get very depressed when the holiday is over. I try to push the feeling aside whilst we're still away but on the plane on the way back, it's that horrible realisation that it's over that I can't stomach. Michel Roux presents the Roux Scholarship; Sundays, 8pm, Good Food (Sky/HD 249, Virgin 260).