Spring Has Sprung

What is it about the first signs of spring that send men and women into paroxysms of delight? Indeed, it can't be the weather, as I am still wrapped up in cashmere with the heating on! However, it may be the increase in daylight hours, weak sunshine and hint of new growth all around...

I was out walking through Hyde Park yesterday evening at dusk. I was arm-in-arm with my lovely client, discussing anything and everything. We had just left a very late lunch at the grill at The Dorchester and were trying to walk some of it off before I took my cab home to Mayfair. My client was breathing in great lungfuls of air and telling me he couldn't believe it was already May, planning his next City break to New York in the next few weeks...and did I fancy coming? Well, it took everything I had not to scream at him - not least because I LOVE New York - because the new SS12 collection had been launched at Bloomingdales and Barneys and was begging me to drop by and say hello.

City breaks are a favourite for your date, too. While London is one of the most amazing places on earth, she is more than adaptable to travel wherever you ask her with an overnight bag. Consider Dubai while it's not too hot and out of season. The fact it has the largest shopping mall in the world should be enough to get any girl to go with you for a few nights!

There's also the animated element of spring. People start discarding layers and walking with their heads up instead of bracing the bitter cold. And more to the point, they start noticing each other again. Eye contact between couples is equivalent to the mating process. Girls sat at the street-side tables and chairs outside cafes, eyeing up the boys eyeing them, trying not to shiver against the fresh wind; business people loosening their ties on their mobiles, booking their favourite lady for lunch; couples booking their famous hotel for some weekend shenanigans, just because they can.

I see no point in being stuck indoors when the seasons change - I've had enough of that over Christmas. I encourage my clients to take me out instead of entertaining me chez-toy or at a five-star hotel. Understand me, I love the comforts of a sunken bath, a four-poster bed and chocolates on my pillow, but I want to be sightseeing while the weather is passable. Wine me, dine me, treat me and above all else, walk with me. There is a whole city just waiting to be seen.