collinsfamily

It was a very long day getting to Paris. We were up early for the mini bus drive to Casablanca then farewelled Mum and Dad at the airport. They were flying to Madrid, leaving an hour before us. Finally on our plane and arrived in Paris at 11pm and at our houseboat at nearly1am. We had a busy couple of days - but no early starts! We bought Sarah some new pointe shoes (ballet) from a shop just by the Opera house. I was rather nervous as we walked up because all of the other shops on the street were easily recognized and very expensive (Tiffany and Co, Van Clef and Arpels, Burberry etc) and I wasn’t sure whether we were going to find anything we could afford. However, the ballet shop was great. It was ... read more

As well as my cooking day we had also booked a half day bread making for my family with Mum and Dad able to join in they wanted. Mum decided to come and Dad was going to watch and wander. We had a great day, same place and teacher as before. Lucy wasn’t feeling so good, mostly tired we think, so she spent the time lying down on the couch upstairs and chatting to the bellydancing teacher who came in and playing with her Littlest Pet Shop things. I was glad she’d had such a great day cooking with me earlier. We made a variety of breads including one stuffed with a meat and olive mixture and a very flakey one that we’d been having for breakfast. We took the bread down to the nearby bread ... read more

I had a cooking class booked at Café Clock as a birthday present from Mum and Dad. Lucy was desperate to come too so she spent the day with me. We had a great day with 3 Americans and our Moroccan cook. Once we’d chosen what to make (beetroot salad, eggplant salad, chicken pastille and macaroons) we headed to the market to buy the food. It was a great experience with Saoud explaining everything to us. Then we spent the next few hours cooking. Lucy was the photographer and took everyone photos on their own cameras. Finally we sat on the rooftop terrace and ate our delicious food. We had made a lot as one of the Americans had planned on having some friends come over to share the meal but they never arrived. So Lucy ... read more

We had a 7 hour train trip from Marrakesh to Fez which was a very easy way to travel. Very dry predominantly rural areas although we also passed Casablanca and Rabat (the capital). There were lots of olive groves but not nearly as many as Spain. Unfortunately there were also vast quantities of plastic shopping bags. We saw them everywhere in Morocco, with fields covered in them and trees full of them. Its very sad and seems to be part of a general problem with rubbish. For us it wasn’t too bad but certainly noticeable that there is a terribly casual attitude to rubbish. There were few rubbish bins around and on a walk one morning Dad and I saw people just dropping bags of rubbish into the river. Our Dar (house) in Fez was beautiful. ... read more

Ken and I had a balloon ride early one morning, leaving the girls with their grandparents. We drove out of Marrakesh for an hour to a little village where the balloon was waiting. It was an amazing experience, first time for both of us. I was expecting it to be really scary but it wasn’t at all. Very peaceful just floating over the countryside looking down on villages and hills. After the ride we stopped in a village for mint bread and freshly baked bread. ... read more