Is Chirac simply bored or is he losing it?

Here's a funny account from Ron Howard in a Newsweek's article on the shooting of the Da Vinci Code in Paris:

Then, in early December, while Howard and Grazer were in Paris auditioning actresses for the film's female lead, they got a call from the office of French President Jacques Chirac inviting them to swing by and say bonjour. "We thought it was going to be a five-minute thing, like a trip to the Oval Office—a photo and a handshake," says Grazer. But Chirac asked them to sit down and get comfortable. Coffee was poured. They ended up staying close to an hour. Chirac insisted that his guests alert him if their request to film at the Louvre hit any snags. Not only that, he offered them some ... pointers. He suggested they cast his daughter's best friend—an actress of some acclaim in France—in the role of Sophie Neveu, the elegant young cryptographer at the heart of the book's mystery. And he wondered aloud, half seriously, if they could sweeten the paycheck for actor Jean Reno, who'd already been cast as the relentless French detective Bezu Fache. "That was hilarious," says Howard. "Fortunately the deal was already closed."

Is this guy for real or is he trying to resemble his character in Les Guignols de l'info [a popular satirical puppet show in France] in the vain hope to regain popularity? At least, Howard seems to have a good sense of humor about it. It is hilarious... or is it?