Day 38 Erfud to Ouarzazate

Today we travelled from Erfud to Ouarzazate and our first stop was at a fossil shop where slabs of marble containing fossils from an ancient lake bed are processed.  We passed the site on the way to the dunes last night.   It was interesting to hear how the fossils were formed, to learn how they process the slabs and to see the vast array of items produced.

We drove through a town where the weekly market was being held and it was fascinating to see the range of products, people, transport and dress.

The countryside was very barren and rocky, with lots of small villages, and large plantations of date palms.  In the Sahara region at least the houses are all adobe, and quickly fall into disrepair if not occupied.

We took a side trip to the Todra Gorge, which was awesome.

In the afternoon, we also drove through the Dades Valley, known as the valley of figs.

We stopped at a traditional kasbah for tea with an Imam and he spent some time explaining how much study is involved in becoming an Imam and what his duties are.  He also spent some time answering our questions and it was so interesting.

For much of the day we travelled parallel with the High Atlas Mountains, which are so rugged and craggy, towering over the surrounding rocky desert.

Tonight we are in a very nice hotel, and have a suite of rooms.  Fancy!

A couple  of general observations about Morocco.

It is very rare not to have a village in view, even if its only in the distance.

You never see women sitting if cafes - it is always men.  Any women we've seen seem to be going somewhere or doing something, whereas its men who are standing around or enjoying the cafe life.  Hassan, our guide, tells us that the men are actually doing business, as the cafe is the office!  There were groups of women sitting together in Bhalil where the cave houses were, but they were making buttons for sale as they chatted.

And Morocco seems to have very good mobile phone coverage - the nomad girl  we visited yesterday had a phone, shepherds seemingly in the middle of nowhere were talking on their phones. Admittedly distances are nowhere as great as in Australia, but it is impressive.

Day 37 Fes to Erfoud

Another interesting day today, after an early start.  We were on the road by 7.00 and headed up into the Atlas Mountains.  The country changed quite rapidly as we climbed, and became quite rocky. Early today we saw lots of olive plantations, but as we climbed apple trees abounded.  We had a quick stop in the university and resort town of Ifrane, which looks like every alpine resort you've been to.

We drove through a cedar forest and and as we crossed the mid Atlases we come on a nomad encampment where we stopped for a quick visit. A young woman was there - the rest of her family were at the markets.  She invited us in and offered us a cup of tea, and bread and olive oil, and we learned a little about her life.  A real treat.

We continued across a plateau with very stony ground and the magnificent snow covered High Atlas Mountains in the distance.  We drove through a few small villages, including one where they were preparing tajines for the lunch time crowd.    It was interesting to see so many people getting around on donkeys, nomad encampments and the flocks of sheep, each with their own shepherd, existing on such barren ground.

After lunch we continued on through similar country and then climbed through a couple of high passes to another plateau.  We drove through the Ziz Gorges into the Sahara, which in this area is a very rocky area with no sand dunes to be seen.  Palm trees have started to make their appearance in villages and by the Ziz river.

We drove through a large regional city Er Rachida, which is a large military town. Because of the heat the houses are painted in ochre colours, mostly pink,  because white houses would be too glary.  We then drove beside the vast oasis of Ziz, one of the largest in the world, beautifully green with palm trees.

We arrived at our accommodation in a kasbah at Erfoud at about 3.  Its a large adobe building of 2 stories, with a large central courtyard.  Very atmospheric.

At 3.30 we set out to see sunset over the Sahara sand dunes, and it was a lovely experience.  We drove for about 45 minutes, and then climbed for about 20 mins along one of the ridges, then sat and sipped wine (or water) and watched the sunset.  Some of our group rode there on camels.  We stopped on the way back to see the stars in the desert.

We had a delicious Berber dinner at the casbah tonight - all cooked in tajines.  Yum!

Day 36 Fes

We spent the morning wandering in the medina, which was an amazing experience.  Our riad is a good example of residences, with very plain walls on the outside, but ornate inside because Muslims don't like to flaunt their wealth.  Obviously not all dwellings are as exotic, but the general principle is the same.

Courtyard of our riad 

The streets are very narrow, some incredibly so, and there is no motorised transport - just donkeys and hand carts.  

As we walked along, we would glance into open doorways, and it might be a little cafe, or shop, or work space, or it could be a larger communal bakery, or a space with a loom.  We saw one man making cutlery from cows horns.  There were areas where they sold clothes, or books or spectacles.  There was a meat area, and an area for olives, etc, etc.  it was so interesting.  Some areas of the medina dated from the 8th century.

We also saw the worlds oldest university, which is here in Fes.

We went to a collective that sold carpets, a tannery where all sorts of leather goods were for sale, and a fabric area where they sold kaftans and djellaba, the traditional long, loose fitted garment worn by men and women.  I might look for one of those in Marrakech - it would make a great winter dressing gown.

This afternoon we visited the village of Bhalil, where local people still live in dwellings carved out of rock.  They started out as caves, and many have been enlarged.  They are cool in summer and warm in winter.  We visited 2 of them and it was interesting to see the difference, and hear stories of life there.

We called at a pottery on the way back to city where we saw them throwing a tangine, hand painting pottery, and chipping tiles to make mosaics.

We had dinner at the riad, and an early night as we have a very early start tomorrow.

A fascinating day.

Day 35 Casablanca to Fes

Casablanca to Fes

We had such an interesting day today, and it was so sunny - no clouds to be seen, and warm enough for shirt sleeves during the day, but cool in the morning and cold at night as we're inland and between two mountain ranges.

We set out at 8 for a sightseeing tour of Casablanca, and I'd have to say there doesn't seem a lot to be seen.  We did visit the Hassan II Mosque, which is the largest mosque in the country and the 7th largest mosque in the world. Its minaret is the world's tallest at 210m.  Its partly built over the Atlantic Ocean, and is very impressive.  I think we will have an opportunity to go inside when we return to Casablanca at the end of the tour.

We then drove for an hour to the capital Rabat, where we visited the royal palace and the mausoleum of King Mohammed V, which was built in the 1960s of white marble.  As in so many places in Morocco, the mosaic work is amazing.  The mausoleum is located next to the Hassan Tower which is the minaret of an incomplete mosque in begun in 1195.

We also drove to the old part of Rabat, which overlooks the Atlantic, and is surrounded by a wall.

We had lunch there then drove for a couple of hours through some beautiful green countryside to Meknes, where we visited a food bazaar, and also went to the Madrasa Bou Inania, where there is a mosque and mausoleum.

From there we drove another hour to Fes, which is the ancient capital of Morocco.  We came to our accommodation, which is in a riad in the medina, which is the original walled city.  Our room is amazing, with lovely mosaics, high ceilings, and a courtyard and pool outside our door.  There is a terrace outside where we got great views across the medina.

Our room

Tonight we went to a cultural dinner in another part of the medina, where we had a lovely dinner and a lot of fun.   There was a magician, a belly dancer as well as musicians and other entertainers.  The group at our table was a lot of fun, and I haven't laughed so much for ages.

A very good day indeed.  You certainly know you're in a different culture in Morocco.

Day 34 Paris - Casablanca

We discovered today the sun still shines!  And the best time to drive in Paris is at 5.00 am.

We arrived at the airport very early and checked in, and then spent hours wandering around Terminal S at Orly Airport, which is not very exciting as anyone who has been there will attest. We were successful in finding something to spend our remaining €3 coins on. And it wasn't food.

After a good flight, we got through formalities very quickly, and waited and waited for no luggage to appear.  Eventually, we found both suitcases - our luggage had come on an earlier flight!!  We were very relieved to find it.

Our tour guide, Hassan, met us and bought us to the hotel.  Once we hit Casablanca, the traffic built up and we were trying to decide if it is worse than Paris traffic, but think its just noisier, with pedestrians more inclined to wander out into it.

We had lunch at the hotel and then went for a brief wander around the hotel neighbourhood.  With no maps and no real idea where we were we weren't terribly adventurous.

We had a welcome reception and dinner with our fellow guests, and we think there are 18 of us in all.  Hopefully they will be a nice group to travel with.

Not sure how accessible the Internet will be so we'll see now it goes.  We're staying in a Riad, which is traditional accommodation in the old city, for the next 2 nights so may be off line for a while.

Day 33 Paris

We have walked a fair distance again today, but not nearly as much as yesterday.  And we got to sit down now and then, which made a nice change.  It was overcast and drizzling again this morning, but was fine and overcast this afternoon.

We had a more leisurely start, and the headed down Boulevard Saint Michel to the Ile de la Cite and then lined up to enter Sainte Chapelle, which was built by Louis IV and consecrated on 26 April 1248 and has magnificent 13th century stained glass windows.

Top floor

Ground floor

We then spent some time at the Louvre, and went in the entrance at the Lions Gate, which was recommended by our guide yesterday.  There was no one lined up and we got straight in!!!  There was quite a queue at the main entrance so we were very pleased.

We had lunch on our way back to the hotel and then had a bit of a rest before we went to visit the Luxembourg Gardens, which are just up the road from our hotel.

From there we continued on to the Pantheon.  I went in for a look, but Alan elected to loiter outside.

We found an English pub just on from there, and it was lovely to sit and have a cup of tea.  We wandered down through the Latin Quarter to the Seine and then back to the hotel.  

We are also very close to the Sorbonne, so are in a very good location.

We wandered up the street for dinner and now to pack.  An early start tomorrow with a 5.00 am pick up.

Day 32 Paris

We have walked for about 13 kilometres today, and have had a good day, even though it was misting rain all day.

We started out about 9.00 and walked to Notre Dame, which is celebrating the 850 years since it was commenced.  It took over one and a half centuries to complete. We enjoyed a wander around inside.

We then headed to the fountain on the Place St Michel, where we joined a walking tour that took the next 3 1/2 hours.  Quite a large group were waiting but they divided us up, so it was quite manageable.  Our guide was very interesting and informative and it was a nice introduction to Paris.

We crossed back to the Île de la Cité, then walked along the banks of the Seine where we saw a police divers boat, and some divers trying to climb the arches of one of the bridges.  When they fell in they swam down stream to the boat and were hauled on board.  Different!

We crossed over the Seine a couple of times, and then walked through the courtyards of the Louvre.  We had a coffee break and then walked through the Jardin de Tuileries to the Place de la Concrorde, where the tour ended.

From there Alan and I walked the length of the Champs Élysées to the Arc de Triomphe.  There were some quite large Christmas markets at the Place de la Concorde end, and Alan was fascinated to see some soldiers wandering around, armed with machine guns!!!

We crossed under the road to the Arc, but didn't bother lining up to climb to the top.  After so much walking we weren't keen to stand in a queue for any length of time.

Then we walked back the way we came and crossed back to the Left Bank and then headed back to the hotel by a slightly longer route than necessary. We turned right instead of left and it was a few blocks before we realised.  Darn!

After a bit of a rest with feet up, we headed back out for dinner.  We stopped at the Boulanger just up the road on the way back for an eclair each.  We felt we deserved them.  And you can't come to Paris without having a pastry or two!

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