Another hectic week but it’s not hot – just four months of blissful weather before the heat sets in again, and that calculation was done without resorting to a calculator. I don’t mind the rain and I love the cold and thrive in it. It energises me and I can rush around in comfort and still feel fresh. It is different in summer, as those who feel the heat in extremis, know only too well.

As you know I have had for a long time a certain obsession. It began when I was in my twenties. To be exact, when I first heard her in Paris. It happened as I was eating my first Tarte Tatin – another love –in some small eaterie. I am referring of course to Piaf. Once you have been bitten by her there is simply no going back. It’s been almost a lifetime’s love affair. Am I an addictive personality, I sometimes ask myself. What with Piaf and chocolate. I don’t want an answer. Who cares?

I thought I had all her CDs – long playing, 45 rpm and so on. But a friend sent me an e-mail, saying that she had been to Rome and had brought me back L-Accordéoniste and I’m listening to it now, for the fourth time. So generous and thoughtful. Of course on it there are 15 of Piaf’s songs apart from L-Accordéoniste and to my surprise – and delight – there are three I had never come across before.

And more music, of a different sort, at the Manoel. Music should open us up to modes of experience and feeling that we didn’t know about and that is exactly what the Bach and Beethovan concert did. And oh, my goodness the arrangements of anthuriums on the rim of the stage set the scene. As I settled into my seat I realised that the theatre was full – right up to the Gods…and then before you have a chance to catch your breath, the red curtains, swept up, revealed the new harpsichord which looks small, when compared to the usual grand piano, but very colourful.

And Michael Laus and his team gave us one Bach (of course, who else?) Brandenburg Concerto and a Concerto for Harpsichord and Strings. There is something relaxing about the Bach Brandenburg concertos played, as they were originally intended, on a harpsichord.

Nadia Debono on the violin and flautist Rebecca Hall conveyed their enjoyment at the front of the stage as did the accompanying strings. Maestro Michael Laus, as well as studying pianoforte, composition and conducting also studied the harpsichord in Italy, so it was not surprising that he played the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra’s new harpsichord which was donated by BOV. This is the 18th century forerunner to the piano, an instrument which the French aristocrats in the 1700s adored before the Revolution changed everything. It is thanks to people like the Neuperts, the manufacturers of this new harpsichord, that they are being manufactured today. The Neupert family steadily throughout the years, bought old instruments and then donated them to a museum, so that manufacturers have the originals and can now make identifical copies of them.

It was a most enjoyable concert and Michael Laus surprised us all with his knowledge of the harpsichord, while, at the same time, he was conducting the musicians. A very able man and sobre in spite of his diverse accomplishments. My only grumble is that since the harpsichord has a muted sound it was often overpowered by the musicians. But this concert was truly a cultural leap. It was a first for me, as I had never heard a live harpsichord before and also for music lovers in Malta since the orchestra now has it’s very own harpsichord.

There are many vexed issues at present being debated and not least is the underground extension to St John’s Co Cathedral. I am certain that I’ve signed at least two petitions against this ridiculous proposal. I am behind Astrid Vella and her suggestion that instead of endangering our beautiful cathedral we should restore other palazzi both in Valletta and beyond and use them as museums. I don’t give a crumb as to what Impact Assessment Reports say about these matters on the whole: not unless I know who has written them, how much they were paid, the father, brother, sister, grandfather and so on of those who have written them ... I am beginning to think they are just another excuse to give a job to friends of friends, generally speaking.

This extension idea should be abandoned immediately. We should restore beautiful buildings which are falling apart and save them from complete extinction and not indulge in expenses we cannot afford, to humour goodness knows who. Or simply to create jobs in the building industry as people have more or less stopped building flats as there are very few areas left to ransack. Anyway the real estate sector is more or less dormant, no matter what hype is being written by those employed to do the PR for this sector.

And let’s not even think of building new roads – again to humour goodness knows who. This morning coming to work was like playing snakes and ladders, endeavouring not to turn the men-in-yellow who were filling up holes, into corpses. There were some three to every hole being patched up. When these roads are dry you can see the holes, in the daytime at least, but when the roads and potholes are covered in water when it rains heavily, God help our cars and tyres. Ask journalists how many punctures they have had in the last few weeks. I thought once in Europe we would at least get our roads, if not our salaries at par with other Europeans, and quickly. But it doesn’t seem like it. We are the poor man of Europe in everything no matter what the Nationalist militia keeps on telling us.

I attended the last part of the talk given at the Chamber of Commerce by Monsieur Ernest-Antoine Seillière, the President of Business Europe, which is the Confederation of European Business. Through its 40 member federations in 34 countries across Europe, it represents more than (hold your breath!) 20 million small, medium and larger companies. It was Harry’s second birthday on the same day I wasn’t going to miss his teaparty, even if he wouldn’t kiss me and kept on telling me to ‘Go Away’ – although eventually I did get some juicy kisses and tight hugs from him. My 1975 baby told me it would only take an hour and that I would be in time for the talk. I wasn’t of course and once I got there, heart athumping, there was no parking place in front of the Chamber of Commerce. I told policeman who was busy taking down the registration numbers of other cars parked on the double yellow lines, on the pavement and so on, that I was late already and would he kindly not give me a ticket p – l – e – a – s – e. He could see how harassed I was – face bright red because of too much chocolate cake and other cannot-resist food and also because of anxiety. So he promised to leave my car alone and I tiptoed up the stairs of the Chamber of C. I could just picture Ginger Rogers floating down in a tremble of ostrich feathers.

This event had been organized by the French ambassador in collaboration with the Today Public Policy Institute so at the end of the talk, which was very well attended, Martin Scicluna who heads the latter, also spoke eloquently. M. Seillière was optimistic: “As you can see, we have quite a busy agenda in Business Europe. So do EU and national policy-makers. Times are challenging and expectations are high. But I am convinced that, if we continue on the right track, effectively implement the agreed recovery plan and further pursue ambitious structural reforms, Europe and its companies can emerge reinforced from this unprecendented crisis.” One of the issues he spoke of was protectionism in the European Union and the world. He emphasized that protectionism of every kind must be fought. “Europe needs to reinforce its common trade policy to better promote real market openings across the world.” And of course M. Sarkozy and the French ambassador’s baby: to attach particular importance to the EU-Mediterranean cooperation. “Here Malta has a crucial role to play. At EU level, it is critical to coordinate efforts to maximize the effects and ensure positive cross-border spillovers.”

He also emphasized that the current crisis must also serve as a catalyst for deeper reforms of our economic and labour market structures. And “we must achieve more flexibility regarding working time. This can take various forms. Austria and the Netherlands have already taken or are reflecting on promising initiatives.”

I believe the latter initiative will bring more women with children out into the working world. We keep on saying it but…

Reducing non-wage labour costs was another proposal M. Seillière spoke about, as this would have immediate effect and certainly improve companies’ incentives to hire workers once the crisis has abated, he commented.

So, afterwards to dinner at the French ambassador’s and Mme Rondeau’s residence in Zebbug.

At table I asked M. Seillière how he had come to speak such excellent English with almost no trace of a French accent. He said that when he was young he was not doing so well at school in France so his parents sent him to prep school in England and that is where he learnt English and also came to love cricket and learn how to score, a complicated business, he commented. He and Madame have 5 children and several grandchildren. “I travel a great deal, all round the world, but am generally familiar with five star hotels but hardly with the countries I visit.” A practising Catholic, like the Rondeaus, during our conversation on matters which had little to do with the world of commerce and banking, he said that God gives us signs and that we should teach our children this. He is a relaxed and of course interesting man who wears his knowledge very lightly. And, among other things for which there is no space, let me tell you that the Governor of the Central Bank and Mrs Bonello have become grandparents too!

Evenings at the Rondeaus are always pleasant, relaxed and an occasion for learning.