Thanks for the enjoyable elaboration of your "devilish" thoughts! Great fun to read.
You should call the Lumix the "smart man's" version of the Leica -- I comfort myself with the idea that the D-Lux has a more "Leica-like" color profile in its JPEG processor, but at the end of the day it's very much the Lumix in a slightly different case. Ah well -- no one's perfect!
I do have the pop-open lens cover -- didn't have one for the D-Lux 4, but saw them on others' cameras and had to have one. The best 10 bucks (give or take) that I have spent in a while -- it makes the camera so much easier to use! And, you don't have the risk of the lens cover leash appearing in the middle of a prized shot.
I hope that Kari (and others) have some splendid, sharable things to photograph in January! I have to say that I have a long way to go with photos in "live" situations like restaurants and ateliers, but will be working on it...
Best,
Gary