SATURDAY – 6AM – COLLETTE“Can you manage for a while?” I enquire of Maria, naturally speaking in French to my wonderful housekeeper. “I need to go out for a while, but I'll be back before breakfast.”
“Oui, Madame,” she replies, glancing up from laying silver cutlery on the pristine white tablecloths, each setting looking immaculate as always. “Is everything alright?”
Maria knows very well that it is unlike me to venture out without at least two espressos inside me. Her face is showing the concern of an elderly aunt and I'm grateful for it. The woman is a godsend and without her, I would have given up renting out rooms years ago. Maria nurtures me, despite there being only a decade between us, but I appreciate her concern and would trust her with my life. She also exudes Continental chic.
