L'Hotel de Nice Meknes

Last time on the blog we were deciding which direction to head from Fez. We went with the route of least resistance (on a train line) and took a quick trip to the city of Meknes, a UNESCO site, that is supposedly more relaxed then Fez but often overlooked by travellers. On the train we met a few very nice Moroccans; in general everyone has been very nice and also very interested in speaking with us, even though our French is atrocious and Arabic non ...

Not feeling up for the grind and hustle that Morocco's larger cities provide, we debated heavily about heading straight from Marrakech to Fes.  Looking through our guidebook, we came across a chapter on Meknes.  Meknes is a smaller city that sits about an hour's train ride from Fes, and lacks the volume of tourists that roam Fes' chaotic streets, maintaining a more honest Moroccan charm and laid back atmosphere.  Deciding that this was more our ...

... 3km walk past the Royal palace to Heri es-Souani - the granaries. Designed by Mr Moulay they stored food for about 12T horses. Big roofs and a channel underneath where water flowed to keep the temperature cool - amazing - especially out the back - the roof has fallen off long ago but it is impressive how big they were and you can appreciate this more when you are outside. we wandered down to the nearby lake where a ...

... now housing Moroccan arts and artifacts. Shortly after we entered the museum, one of the staff gave us a personal tour, providing us with many interesting details beyond what we could glean from the mostly French and Arabic faceplates on the exhibits ...

... is currently being developed by a consortium from Dubai to include hotels, entertainment, shops etc. It´s good news for the local economy but such a shame that it will spoil the natural view from this wonderful place. We were followed by a thin but vociferous feral cat and I remembered I had some cheese in my back pack which he devoured with relish. There were cats everywhere, lying on tombstones, basking in the sunshine. There were even chickens mingling ...

... demain a Rabat, ensuite a decider. Voir nos premieres photos. Sante excellente GG JPB et Big Toy. PS on a des problemes informatiques avec nos photos. Suite des que possible. Cà y est, c'est réglé grace à notre matériel exceptionnellement étudié!

... panorama photo. I suspect they may fear the camera as a soul-stealing "evil eye", a traditional belief that prevails in many parts of the Mediterranean world. Although the belief is not Islamic in origin, in Morocco and other modern countries "The Evil Eye" is warded off by the Hand of Fatima, small metal hands which represent protection by Mohammed's daughter Fatima and adorn everything from houses to automobiles to horse-drawn carts to necklaces and other jewelry.

I have been able to do some cool stuff since the Fondouk has reopened. I have been able to spay and neuter a few animals all by myself! I enucleated a kitten's eye and stayed up all night with an expensive French show horse from Rabat, who was colicing. I also convinced Doc not to kill an abandoned kitten. So now ...

... handicrafts, so it was nice to look at things like that without people trying to sell it to us. much more impressive was the building, all tiles and carved cedar wood and mosaics. there was a nice garden, but they didn;t seem to want us to sit in there and hurried us through. well, that is us pretty much up to date. hope all at home are well.

... récupérer leurs commandes. Finalement, on se retrouve tous Place El Hédime et on va manger au camping. Après manger, on va chercher la table que Papa avait commandé et mon plateau. Ils sont superbes. Ils viennent juste de les finir. On passe un peu de temps avec le jeune chez qui on a acheté les trucs la dernière fois et on retourne au camping car il faut charger les voitures et préparer pour le d ...