Elder Mitt’s a real leader—Pappy’s favorite story on this topic dates from the night before The Accident. Under date of 15 June 1968, p 103 of the journal reads:
The next morning we headed with (Elders Wood and Romney, Dave, Leola, and I) for a trouble-shooting swing to Angoulême, Bordeaux, Pau, Limoges, and Nantes. We left Dave at the gare in Angoulême and stayed overnight at the Grand Hôtel de France. The next morning our car was completely surrounded by a marché from which Elder Romney’s ingenuity was able to extricate us.
After successful consultation with local authorities in Angoulême and Bordeaux (where Frère & Soeur Farel joined us) went to Pau...
When asked (or not—I told you this was a favorite story of his), Pappy would amplify that they arrived somewhat late. Though puzzled at the emptiness of the parking lot, they parked right up against the hotel wall, all the way in. The locals obviously knew of the market plans, but the issue didn’t occur to our weary travelers.
Well, at the sight of the morning bustle, Pappy told Mitt to phone ahead to Bordeaux to prepare a late arrival. But Mitt responded, “Well, maybe not, President. Do you have a hundred francs on you?” He did. Mitt changed the colorful bill (bearing Napoleon’s likeness, I think, worth about twenty bucks) into relatively new five-franc coins and waded out into the commercial crowd with a big smile and a clear, “Il nous faut partir!”, distributing shiny dollar coins where they’d do the most good. In a couple of minutes, the Citroën was idling on the street, ready for the next stage of the trip.
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