Farewell to Fez

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  Tangiers, Morocco
Sunday, June 15, 2003

It was a very full day yesterday. I managed to find the Palais Juan Hotel and discovered the Ravi Shankar film was to be shown at 10 a.m. I quickly went to the train station to buy our train tickets back to Tangier, went back to our hotel to get Yoong and we arrived just as the film was being introduced. It was an excellent documentary, in English, with plenty of samples of superb sitar music. The director was present and had a question and answer session after the screening. Unless the question was asked in English, he spoke in French, as most of the audience were French-speaking. We then went for lunch at Dar Jamal palace restaurant, which was recommended to us by a Dutch tour guide we met at the Institut Francais. It was also given a reasonable write-up in the Lonely Planet. It was a bit disappointing after the wonderful meals at the little local restaurant. The food was nothing special and it cost a lot more. The one good thing was that we could have wine with the meal - a good half-bottle for 70 dirhams. We were the only customers and we had trouble avoiding touts who wanted to guide us to the palace.

After a rest back at the hotel we went to the Bab Bou Jloud for yet another Arabic music concert - not one of the best we've seen - then to Bab Makra for the 9 pm performance by the Anointed Jackson Sisters from North Carolina. It cost 150 dm per ticket but it was worth it for good gospel music, including some old favourites. It was amusing to see ladies in Moslem costume clapping along to songs about Jesus. Did they really know what they were supporting? It would never be allowed in Brunei! Presumably this is the upper class elite, to be able to afford the tickets. Of course there were a lot of tourists in the audience, mainly French. We still had time to catch the final show at the French Institute - two groups of percussion and dance with some trumpet-like instruments as well. It was quite a wild audience, many getting really carried away. It was still in full swing when we left after 12.30 a.m.

Today we did some e-mail and took our bags to the little restaurant for a superb final Fez meal - veal tajine, chicken with rice, mixed salad and two plates of the special aubergine dip that he made "especially for us", and, of course, the obligatory mint tea, which we would prefer to have missed as we were worried about getting to the train, all for 45 dm - excellent value. We are on the train now, heading for Tangiers. We will really miss this lovely country.

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