Winter Antics and My London Love

An Excerpt From My Memoirs

Every winter we were sent with our nanny to an old-fashioned alpine Grand hotel in Chateau d’Oex, where we spent several weeks at a time. Therefore, by the time I was five, I could ski very well, and Thadée was equally proficient at an earlier age.

We hated ski school and would defy our exasperated instructor and ski off on our own at any opportunity. Once during our stay at the hotel, a young nanny who watched over us was seduced by the saxophonist in the orchestra that played at tea time.

She ran a bath, and while we were in it, she left us to our own devices while she joined her lover. Delighted with our unexpected freedom, we turned the taps and the shower on, splashed about with squeals of joy, and flooded our rooms and the entire hotel floor.