 In 1939, when she was 10, de Ribes's parents sent her and her siblings to Hendaye with a nanny during World War II.They lived in the concierge's cottage, as the main house was requisitioned by the Gestapo.Worried that the American army would land on the beaches of Hendaye and endanger their children, de Ribes's parents moved them again to the château of the Count and Countess Solages in central France.