A French nun who is believed to be the world’s second-oldest person was celebrating her 117th birthday in style. There were plans for champagne and red wine, a feast with her favorite dessert, a Mass in her honour, and other treats to toast Sister André’s exceptional longevity through two world wars and a recent coronavirus infection.

“It’s a big day,” David Tavella, the communications manager for the nun’s care home in the southern French city of Toulon, told The Associated Press. “She is in great shape. I went to see her this morning. She is really happy. She wanted me to tell her the schedule for the day again.”

Tavella told French media earlier this week that Sister André tested positive for the coronavirus in mid-January but she had so few symptoms that she didn’t even realise she was infected. Her survival made headlines both in France and beyond.