I remember an excerpt of a novel for teens, reprinted in some English literature compilation under what I think was the title “The Contessa and Me” but that was not the title of the book it came from. A teen is at a hotel that her possibly British or American parents run on the French Riviera. She befriends a Contessa there. There is a scene where she cleans up after a party where I believe the Contessa had too much champagne to drink. It’s kind of a coming of age story. The excerpt was one part of the book which I think was divided into three parts total or possibly was a series of short stories on the same characters. At one time I read the other two parts somehow but don’t recall the overall name or author.
Maybe Rumer Godden?
This sounds like The Duchess and the Smugs.