@editor: may I inform you that Lu Ann is NOT registered as having the right to bare the title of Countess. The Garde des Sceaux at the French Ministère de la Justice in Paris has no record of EVER given her the right to bare this title. She is what we call False Nobility or Nobility of appearance, because their family name starts with a suffix and therefore LuAnn has added this title to her Surname (by marriage). In the Republic, one may call oneselve what onselve want, but that doesn’t mean their title is protected by the State. LuAnn may call her Queen of Sheeba, but that doesn’t mean she is the Queen of Sheeba. LuAnn doesnt know very much about étiquette neighter. A servant in a hotel should NEVER call her “Countess”, but “Madame la Comtesse”. In la Société Mondaine, they would call her LESSEPS or Madame de Lesseps and only her very very very good friends should call her LuANN. Wenn a servant calls you by your title alone, it shows he thinks he is her equal. If I would meet my aunty I could say at our initial encounter : “Comtesse” and she would reply : “Mon Cher Baron”. And for the rest I would call her Ma Tante and she would call me by my first name. There is also a rank in society by which is regulated whom may call whom what….My aunty is older, so I call her “aunty” out of respect. She will call me by my first name or call me ‘mon cher’ to show she is the elder. This tradition of rank goes though everything in life : I will NEVER sit down before my aunt. I will NEVER start lunch before my aunt; aso aso But I will ALWAYS precede my aunt when going up the strairs of our ancestral home. AND YOU NEVER TAKE A TELEPHONE CALL IN FRONT OF YOUR FRIENDS…CINDY !!!! You see LUANN, these are all traditions which you are unaware of, and show you are NOT an aristocrat. (For the list of french aristocratic families and their descendants : conta the Garde des sceaux at http://www.justice.gouv.fr/le-garde-des-sceaux-10016/)