Early Encounters with France
Pleaux in the 1960s Herry spent two summers in France - first in 1961 when he was 16 - and again in 1964. His first stay was with a distant Pugh cousin Mlle Manileve - known as Tante Lily - who lived in a large house ('Les Treize Vents') at Pleaux in the Massif Central and had friends' and relatives' children to stay to improve their French, rather in the manner of the Hupthals of Haldengutli for German and skiing. Herry was driven down by 'Aunt' Ruth (then Stevens, later Howard) and her daughter Auriol, and spent five weeks supposedly learning French but mainly swimming and brushing up his table tennis. In 1964 he went to stay with his former nanny, Marie-Therese Carpita and her husband Lucien at their flat in Cap d'Ail . Marie-Therese then worked at Narmino , the flower shop in Monte Carlo which supplied all the flowers for the Palace, and Marie-Therese herself went there weekly to arrange them. Lucien had an equally enviable job, being the maitre ...