DISASTER
"I had always wanted to act," Petula went on, "But I seemed to be booked for life as a dear little thing shedding sweetness and light. It was such a terrible strain.
"Then I was invited to sing in Paris, and fell in love with the place.
"My first appearance there was a near disaster, though. I wore one of my `English' dresses: pale pink and white, with a full skirt.
"And when I went on the stage, the audience roared with laughter. They thought it was just about the funniest thing they had ever seen.
"French people always imagine English girls dress in blue or pink. And there I was, straight from London to prove it to them! The worst comment was that I looked like a sore thumb wrapped in a bandage! But I didn't really mind, because it was Claude, my husband, who said it!"
After that, Pet decided to study what French audiences wanted, rather than what she thought they ought to have.
UPLIFT
"In France," she told me, "people don't go to a music hall simply to be entertained.
"They go for a sort of spiritual uplift. When French stars sing, it is of love, death, happiness or grief, and they sing in a way that makes people respond.
"That's what I have tried to learn.
"Nowadays, I sing in a different way. It's no longer, `Here I am, look at me.' It's `Listen I can