We return to The Chouri’s home and are welcomed to a beautiful couscous made by Jihane’s mom – Latifah. She shows me her couscousière. They cook the couscous very differently than us!

On Saturday we had a private celebration of their moroccan wedding for Marc-Andre and Jihane at her parents’ house! They had a beautiful catered meal and set up a nice table in the back room of their living room.

The process in Morocco is long and with a lot of paperwork but they persevered and got it done! They are such a beautiful couple!

We are so happy to welcome her in our family!

In Meknes – which is the home town of Jihane’s mom – we meet our guide Mohammed, who is native from here and also an Amazight (Berber) and we begin with the mausoleum of Moulay-Ismail – second ruler of the Alawi dynasty. The clocks in the back were donated by Louis XIV.

Beautiful mosaïque and carpet. One of only 4 mosque that non muslim can enter

We then enter the Medina – Souk where spices, olives, dates etc…are displayed in abondance. Chuck and our guide are walking much too fast !

Many small alleys – it would easy to get lost!

We learn about the many mosaïque fountains that we will see in every city we visit. There is always one besides every mosque. The skill to make them is incredible…. And of course the many many cats – they are seen as clean and blessed animals. While there are many stray cats, they are well fed and look relaxed and happy

Of course we buy carpets

We then make our way to Volubilis. Our guide there is exceptionally knowledgeable. Chuck gets his fill of history – it is much bigger than expected

They have unearthed beautiful mosaïque that would have been in someone’s living room.

It was destroyed in part during the big earthquake that destroyed Lisbon in the 18th century – the repercussions all the way here!

We are told we are lucky today, it is only 36C as in July it often reaches 47C!

We then arrive at Fes and check at our beautiful hotel – Palais Faraj which a rooftop restaurant with a spectacular view.

We continue our trip with a day long visit of Fes – known as the oldest medieval city in the world and the previous capital of Morocco.

We visit the square in front of the king’s palace and admire again the beautiful doors.

On the way we see another stork’s nest. This one was so big that they had to break it in the middle as it was in danger of collapsing the tower….but they came back! They nest at the same place each year.

Our guide takes us to a panoramic view of the city. It is beautiful from here and we can clearly see the walls of the Medina.

Back in the city we enter the Medina – more than 1400 alleys! It is very easy to get lost here.

First to the ceramic place. We are astonished to see the details being painted by hand by the artists with no design. All the paint colors are from natural plants. We also get to watch mosaïque sculpters make each small piece by hand with a 3kg hammer.

The art of making these mosaïque is incredible – the must assemble them upside down by memory for the glaze to then be poured on it. They will only know if they made a mistake in the pattern once they reverse it and look at the finished product and at which point it can not be fixed.

It gives us a renewed appreciation of the fountains and the tables!

Of course we buy a céramique tagine hand painted.

As we walk through the Medina, we pass weavers ( they use the inside of the agave cactus to create what they call plant silk to weave), food, copper artisan (7th generation), leather and more. Our guide takes us down a small corridor to see the river that separates two areas. One build in tje 800s and one in the 1400s. The difference is obvious.

At the famous tannerie we are given springs of mint to put to our noise while climbing to watch from above. The skins of camels, goats, lambs and cows are treated here. First in large vats with pigeon’s poo which contain the perfect amount ammonia to clean the skins – and we can smell it! Again all the vat of Colors are natural. The donkeys are the means to transports these skins outside the Medina to be dried.

A very full day.

The next day our private driver Oualid, who is fabulous and also amazight and from Ifrane, takes us there. It is a local SKI RESORT! Absolutely gorgeous small town, reminiscent of any town in the European alps! So much greenery and parks!

Oualid tells us that the king has ordered the governement to stop building houses here to keep it small. They get snow from December to february and sometimes 2 meters

And a colony of local moneys on the mountain there year round!

We love Ifrane!

Tomorrow we discover Fes!