So where are the ducks in Paris?

Stadtpark 15 November 2011

Well today Cate was supposed to cruise in at about 9.00 AM from Istanbul – have a shower – repack her bag and leave for Delhi at about 11.30 AM.  

But  I woke with the smell of goats in the air and sure enough her plane was delayed from Delhi and she did not get home until after 10:30 AM so it was a mad rush for her to get ready for the 11:30 AM pickup.

And – goat things being what they are – the travel person messed up the seats for the umpteenth time this year and she was sitting in her least favourite seat on the aircraft – in the very front row next to the toilet – but Hallelujah! It was broken and the plane was not full so she was able to move back a couple of rows.

This was after she was told on checking in that her carry on luggage was two kilos overweight. She fixed the man with her death stare and said ‘I am a Senator and I am travelling Business Class’. 

He said ‘Take a book out of your luggage - I am just going to change my underpants’ and she did – and in a jiffy he was back and the problem was solved.

Of course there was also a problem with boarding and then they had to de-ice the wings and all that sort of palaver and I was getting regular progress reports - some of which were of a tense and terse nature - but part of my role is to deal with difficult situations and as my life is basically all beer and skittles I am happy to take on the role of the flak magnet when Cate has some spleen to vent – not that there was much left after she was airborne today.

Anyway – as I have said – this is her last major trip for the year – barring additional goat things which are always possible because there are some people out there just itching to fuck things up beyond all recognition - but let’s hope we can get to Christmas without too many major crises because it does take a toll on us all when things go pear-shaped.

Anyway I am not sure if I mentioned that Cate is going to a conference in Paris next Monday and I am going with her because this gives us the opportunity to spend a long weekend there and also to see my daughter Molly who lives there with her cat Merlin – and also edits my blog.

So for the first few days while Cate is conferencing Molly and I will visit cafés and cemeteries and take photos of cats and wander the streets of Paris – which is my second favorite city after Vienna.

We are staying in the conference hotel – whatever that is – for the first four days and then I have booked the Kube Hotel in Paris which is in the 18th Arrondissement where Molly lives – but not in the high end.

It was apparently once one of the coolest hotels in Paris – and has the Ice KUBE Bar – where really cool people drink.

These days it is more of a night club with a doss house attached but we will do the best we can. Paris is expensive – even in winter – and we are saving our money for Norway.

I will ask Molly where the ducks are in Paris. I may get some photos.