Merlin - the finest cat in Paris.

I am having the worst hay fever of my life. I have never experienced anything like it. My eyes are puffy and almost sightless. I am sneezing – nay – it would be wrong to call them sneezes – more explosive paroxysms or even involuntary detonations. The cats leave the room when I come and go somewhere quieter. I am stuffing down the required tables which are having little effect. Tissues cover the floor like snow. When will it end (When spring ends I should imagine).

I cannot imagine that there is a better city in which to live than Vienna. It has a quality of life that most people can only dream about and – as far as I can tell – only a minimal number of Republicans. The smoking of course is another matter and I am not going to go on about that again.

Although….. (Oh God here he goes again) My best mate John was here last week. He is a long time member in Australia of Rotary and Rotarians go to each others meetings when they are in other cities, or countries. So John went along to a Rotary meeting last week at the Hilton Hotel and met about 60 other local Rotarians. The guest speaker was the Wiener Bürgermeister Michael Häupl.

The Bürgermeister said that his major problem in Wien was making it smoke free and therefore more acceptable to the many tourist who come from all over the world – where they do not blow smoke over you when you are eating a meal in a restaurant. Good luck Michael – you will need it.

Where was I? I know. Wien is the best city in which to live. (Actually the best city to live in is the one in which Cate is but if I say that she will think I am just grovelling because my iMac cost so much).

But my favourite city has always been Paris. It is special. Sure I worked for a French bank so went there often at their cost and stayed in fancy hotels. I usually stayed in the Hotel Meurice – and I have always loved it.

It is of course my second favourite European city now because my daughter Melissa lives there with her cat Merlin. He is a most delicious cat. Plump - but regal and gorgeous. It is a big call but Merlin is the finest cat I have ever known. (Gasp! It’s OK – my cats don’t read the Blog).

You remember Melissa? She is the one with Musophobia.

The point of this is a video on You Tube. It is the background to a Snow patrol song ‘Open Your Eyes’. It is shot in the streets of Paris in the 1970s. There is a very interesting (to me anyway) story about this film and you can read about it on Wikipedia

I love this. It always brings back memories of Paris then and now. It finishes at Sacre Coeur – near where my daughter lives in Montmartre.