Moroccon Adventures

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7 March 2017

Our early flight out of Iceland, saw us arriving in Paris at midday. We took a taxi from Orly airport – 30 Euro flat rate.

The taxi driver was mute I think, as Walter tried to make conversation but the fellow didn’t respond. We arrived at Hotel Monge and were very impressed by the hotel and the staff. It is a boutique hotel, with very elegant furnishing and fittings. Very beautiful and classy, and very welcoming too. We had access to the coffee machine in the foyer at any time. This was great for us, as we have both missed open access to having a coffee when we wanted it.

We did some washing then walked to Notre Dame. It was a 15 min walk. It is a city of splendor. On our return to the hotel, we picked up a bottle of Sav Blanc at the wine store. We finished it off before we went to dinner at a restaurant that advertised “French Food”. We chose the set menu at 15 Euro pp. Walter had 6 Escargot, boeuf bourguignon and the crème caramel and I had the Onion Soup (French of course), the Coq au Vin and the chocolate mousse. We were offered to try a red wine. It was quite delicious and we ended up finishing off the bottle. The wine cost us 33 Euro and the food for both of us - 30 Euro. C’est la vie! For the first time in a long time I got quite drink, staggered back to the hotel (about 20 m) and collapsed on the bed. I remembered to set the alarm for 3.30 as we had an early flight to Casablanca (0710)



8 March 2017

Major hangover today as I struggled out of bed to get going to the airport. We caught a taxi to Charles de Gaulle Airport for a flat rate of 55 euro. We were dropped at the wrong terminal – had to walk to the next one to check in. We managed to get ourselves checked in thanks to the very helpful Air France ground staff. We then caught a train to the correct gate – yes we hopped onto train to get to the correct gate. From that point –all went well.

We arrived in Casablanca on time and met our driver/guide, Husseini. Casablanca is a huge city of about 3.5 m people. The traffic is heavy, the drivers crazy, road rules appeared to be non existent, but it all seemed to work.

We enjoyed looking around Casablanca, saw Ricks Café, Hussein II mosque among other interesting sites. We enjoyed our dinner at a Moroccan restaurant ,sans alcohol. The music playing in the background was a couple of Xmas songs and some opera. Weird mix. The hotel we stayed in had a couple of bars though; there was a big casino across the road. Our room had an ocean view. I think we got one of the best rooms, as it was very swish!.



9 March 2017

Today is my birthday. I sleep in a little, waking up at 8am with only an hour and a quarter to get myself ready as we are off to Fes today, via Rabat.

Rabat is the capital city, on the coast and is much prettier and less chaotic than Casablanca. We checked out the Moroccan government buildings, which are heavily guarded, and explored the Kasbah. This city is quite lovely. The people I saw on the streets appeared to be dressed more conservatively that those in Casablanca.

We had lunch at a small town between Rabat and Fes. We sat on the footpath and were served traditional Moroccan food. We had Lamb Kofta and some fries and olives and a cold tomato salad. It was delicious. The best part was watching the man cut the lamb meat off the carcass that was hanging at the entry to the restaurant. He then trimmed off the fat, put it through the mincer and sent it on to be cooked. That is what I call fresh!

On our way to Fes, we checked out the local Roman Ruins at Volibulis. The Romans developed and populated this area in the 2nd and 3rd Centuries. It is very well preserved and very interesting. I enjoyed listening to the guide talk about how life would have been in this town. They say there was up to 15,000 people who lived there at any one time.

We then travelled into Fes, arriving at about 7pm. We stayed in a Riad in Fes. Riads are like a BnB. The Riad we stayed in was in the Medina (the old city) and it followed the usual design – very stark and ugly on the outside and extraordinarily beautiful on the inside. The staff was excellent and the room a real treat. The only down side was the bathroom which needed some serious upgrading.



10 March 2017

Fes is the home town of our guide, Husseina. We saw very little of him during our visit to Fes. We had another guide Achmed. Achmed was very knowledgeable and was able to describe the medina on a normal day (as we were there on a Friday which is a day of prayer for most in Fes). We wandered around the medina before the midday prayers, and although some shops were open, most were closed and there were few people around.

We bought a couple of souvenirs for ourselves – a carpet for the lounge and a handbag from the tannery. We had lunch on a rooftop of a restaurant building. We had a set menu of a Moroccan warm salad (see photo), cous cous with lamb for me and Lamb Shish kebab for Walter, followed by a fruit plate and mint tea. It seems mint tea is a routine finisher for meals. I don’t like the taste, but Walter does and he says it helps settle his stomach.

We had a couple more photo stops and then returned to the Riad for a rest.

That night we had dinner at a local restaurant, surprisingly the menu choices we the same, and again I had the cous cous but this time with chicken and Walter had the chicken shish kebab.

There was entertainment offered in the form of a couple of bands playing Moroccan music, a belly dancer and a magician.

I was then surprised with a birthday cake, organised by our guide Husseini. It was really lovely. I got to blow out 3 tea lights. The cake was a sponge covered with very light and not too sweet cream. It was certainly a birthday moment to remember.



11 March 2017

Today we boarded the train to travel from Fes to Marrakesh. Husseini purchased the tickets for us and we ended up in a reserved first class seat. It was very comfortable.

Looking out through the train window, it looks so much like Australia. We noticed in the first few days the Eucalypt trees (that were imported from Australia) and the pastures full of crops and fruit trees. Parts of the journey from Casablanca to Fes reminded me of New Zealand with the green rolling hills. Morocco and Australia must be on similar latitudes, except one is north and the other south. On this journey we also saw snow on the Middle Atlas Mountains – but not enough for skiing apparently. There are some ski resorts in the Atlas Mountains, which is further south from Fes.

With respect to animals we have seen a lot of sheep and some donkeys. Amazingly the most common domestic type animal we have seen has been the cat. Not too many dogs around. Husseini tells us he has the country has wolves running wild as well as snakes, spiders and scorpions. There were lions here, but they have been removed over the centuries to satisfy the Romans of long ago as well as European invaders more recently.

The main groups of people in the country are Berbers and Arabs. The language spoken is Berber, Arabic and French. The French occupied Morocco fro 1912 until about 1956. You can see the imprint of the French still in this country.

We arrived in Marrakech mid afternoon. Husseini dropped us at the International Market where we made our acquaintance with some snakes and the reptiles they had. The cobras and other slithery snakes were a little sluggish and they were prodded until they “performed”. There was a fellow there with a flute trying to get the cobras to rise up but it was not happening. There was a scuffle as we moved on – we only wanted to give them 20 dirham, they wanted 200. Walter just ignored them and kept moving away. They are quite intimidating actually.

We stayed at a fantastic Riad – Clos des Arts. It was stunning. Just loved it. The owner checked us in and when he asked us where we had come from we said Norway and Iceland. He said he thought Norway was the most expensive country in the world (this fellow is Italian btw). We countered by saying if Norway is the most expensive, then Iceland is the second most expensive.



12 March 2017

We spent all day today in Marrakech. Had some time to look at the Prime Minister’s palace and some crypts where kings and others are buried. We wandered around the medina and looked at the Souk (the traditional market place). It is a wonderful place to visit. We then went onto have a look at the Marjorelle Gardens where there is a memorial for Yves St Laurent. Marrakech is definitely interesting and worth more than one day. Would like to come back here.



13 March 2017

We drove from Marrakech to Casablanca this morning. Our flight was to leave at 3.30pm and we got to the airport at 12.30pm. You would think it is plenty of time, but the queuing was crazy this airport. Glad to be o our way as a matter of fact. I loved Marrakech and Experience IT tours was fantastic, our guides brilliant, just happy to be going back to France where at least I can decipher some words. Saying that, Morocco has most signage in French as well as Arabic so I can’t really complain. Also I never felt that I was not a valued person, and equal to Walter. I think it was so loud in most places. Everyone shouted and there was always people chatting in small groups everywhere, and motor scooters whipping around the small streets of the medina. Rather eye opening as a matter of fact.

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Photos

Casablanca
First look at the largest city in Morocco

Pigeons everywhere
This could be in any major city

Ricks Cafe
Where the film Casablanca was conceived

Inside the Hussan II mosque
Can accommodate 25,000 people in prayer at one time. One third of the building is over the water.