Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Fès

C'est de notre riad que je vous écris, en écoutant la pluie tomber sur le toit de verre, un verre de thé à la menthe à portée de main.  On a été très chanceux côté température jusqu'à présent, bien qu'il ait fait un peu froid parfois. Même maintenant, la pluie a commencé juste au bon moment,  alors qu'on avait besoin de prendre une petite pause. Là, pas le choix, on ne peut pas sortir de toute façon!

Yesterday, after settling in, we took a nice walk through the old medina of Fes, Morocco's oldest capital, dating back to the ninth century. At times, the architecture really is medieval in style. The streets. Are winding, there are some tiny alleyways, and most of these little streets aren't on any map. They don't even have names! We were told going down led us to the main square, and going up led us back to the main door, and our riad. That's true, but only if you're on the right street! So of course we got lost. And there were several friendly young men, even boys, offering their help. No thank you!  Instead, we asked for help from a man who actually shooed some boys away from us, and who didnt seem like he wanted to get up from his chair. Turns out we were really close to where we wanted to be, but had no idea.

Aujourd'hui, nous avons pris les services d'un guide officiel, de l'office du tourisme. Ça s'adonne qu'il a sa carte de résident permanent au Canada! Il nous a fait visiter la ville pendant presque quatre heures, nous donnant des explications très intéressantes et détaillées. Sans lui, on en aurait manqué beaucoup, et on serait plus fait déranger.  Il nous a fait voir des coopératives de tapis, d'huile d'argan, de tisserands et de tanneurs. Et bien sûr, on a vu les fameux pots de teinture pour le cuir. Le cuir de Fès est renommé.

Our excellent guide today took us through several souks, including a very famous one, where people here buy their food. Vegetables, sweets, orange flowers, fish, and, of course, meats. This market is not for the faint of heart. Dromadary heads (real ones!) indicate where you can get this specialty meat. In front of another butcher's shop hang a few tongues, still attached to whatever they're attached to in the mouth.  un bon cours d'anatomie!

After our long walk, we buy some sandwiches on the side of the road, then get back to the riad for a short rest. Just in time, too: the rain starts to pour while I'm typing this.

Now that the rain has calmed down a bit, we're off to do some shopping!

Demain, le désert....

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