Day 6 Fes and more

We woke up to sunshine and clear skies initially. Dragged the kids out of bed and down to breakfast. Crepes, bread and jam, fresh OJ, coffee and tea. OK Michael and Kate had Nesquick chocolate chemical cereals. We got ready after the breakfast and took the car out of the dug-out garage, a tricky maneuver involving no mirrors and avoiding a pillar by 2 cm, I kid you not. Using our innate sense of direction, we ended up on top of the hill overlooking the medina, near the Hotel des Merinides. We took panoramic photos and sold Kate for a few camels to some interested boys, but she was returned as difficult to manage within five minutes. So off we went to the five star hotel to check it out. They were excited to see us as the hotel seemed entirely devoid of guests, but it had a superb view of the city and a swimming pool that looked inviting despite the 16C temperature. Unfortunately they would not let us stay for free so we left and rolled down the hill in putt-putt (no gas required) to the nouvelle ville section of Fes. This is of course a misnomer as most of it was nouvelle back in the 1920's. Some of it has been updated and there are some nicer sections of apartments and houses. We found the gare and then the street Albert lives on, for which there was no sign despite that it is the main street leading away from the gare. We also walked around a few blocks, bought some postcards and then got sprayed with shaving cream by some little kids. Everyone helped us clean up. Then we went to the apartment only to find oout we were in the worng building.We phoned and the door did not open. So we went next door and finally had the right place. Albert welcomed us and showed us the apartment. He had two old  friends from France visiting and also the lady he works with, Latifah. o we all sat down to a lot of wine, Moroccan salads and a long dafina composed of too many courses for my stomach. Finally around 3:30 PM we pushed back from the table and said our goodbyes. We had the intention of seeing the Roman ruins of Volubilis outside of Meknes. So we took the highway and rolled back through Meknes 40 km away and up into the countryside towards the village of Moulay Idriss. The sky was darkening and we were in the mountains so we actually arrived at Volubilis as it was getting dark. We parked at the gate and despite the closing hour, the guard asked for full price and told us a guide was available (Please tip him at the end...) However, we didn't bite and I am sure we would not have seen much without flashlights as the sky started to rain again. We drove back up and down the twisty roads past the village which we didn't actually enter. Back to Fes again and we were all needing relief, so we stopped at a very trendy cafe, patisserie called La Villa. Just in time, we sat down with all the cool kids of town, dressed up for the local version of cruising. We ate a lite meal with coffee, tea and tasty Moroccan treats such as chocolate milkshake, and ice cream sundae. The more substantial meal was panini and crepes for the male elements. Another downpour while we ate so that the rest of the drive was puncutated by splashing other vehicles through large puddles. Amazingly we managed to find our way in through Bab Ziat, our gate to the medina and even into our garage. We were ably assisted in backing the car into a spot wide enough for a fat donkey and so putt-putt went to bed to rest up for the long drive toErfoud tomorrow. Safely back in the Riad Damia, we hitched up to the wonders of the Internet and Skype to be able to serenade my mother with Birthday wishes. Hopefully they will also follow this blog. The author appreciated the kind comments of our readers. Looking forward to another day.