Day 6 (May 5)

After breakfast (freshly baked baguette, banana, pancake & sponge cake plus coffee or tea) at the roof terrace Jean-François walked us to the outskirt of the Djemaa el Fna* square. We spent the rest of the day exploring the souks**. We’d lunch at the Café des épíces recommended by Jean-François for its reasonable price and cleanliness. Michelle bought a tagine pot after lengthy negotiation. The price was originally one for DH20 and DH30 for two. Finally my daughter got one for DH15 though the owner asked without success to exchange one of his caps for mine (Island Golf). We returned to the Riad around 15:30. Between 17:30 and 20:00 all Riad guests (Richard & Katheen from Chicago and a newly wedded couple from the UK – both couples are real nice) would have afternoon tea (and surf the net) at the courtyard area (all soft drinks and nuts are free). We ventured out to the Djemaa el Fna square for dinner. We tried the highly recommended stall #14 for seafood; and waited behind one of the four wooden benches for 20 minutes. We ordered one dish of each of the deep-fried fish (three pieces), calamari, fish nuggets and French fries. In total they cost only US$7.00 and tasty too. We also attempted to locate stall #9 but couldn’t find it*** so we patronized #6 instead for its escargot. Personally I found the texture not firm enough. Afterwards we strolled around the square to sample the various night life activities for half an hour.

* The place remains the main square of Marrakech, used equally by locals and tourists. During the day it is predominantly occupied by orange juice stalls, youths with chained Barbary apes, water sellers in colourful costumes with traditional leather water-bags and brass cups, and snake charmers who will pose for photographs for tourists. As the day progresses the entertainments on offer change: the snake charmers depart, and in the afternoon and evening the square becomes more crowded, with Chleuh dancing-boys (it would be against custom for girls to provide such an entertainment), story-tellers (telling their tales in Berber or Arabic, to an audience of appreciative locals), magicians, and peddlers of traditional medicines. As dark descends the square fills with dozens of food-stalls, and the crowds are at their height.

** Markets of Marrakech, just adjacent to Place Djemaa El-Fna, are where you can buy all most anything. From spices to shoes, jalabas to kaftans, tea pots to tagines and much, much more. Undoubtedly, being a foreigner means you will end up paying higher prices than a native would, but be sure to bargain nonetheless. The sellers here are much less aggressive than say, Egypt or Turkey, so have fun!

*** All the stalls are not aligned numerically. Its very confusing. They display the price on the menus making it less likely you'll be overcharged, but many will bring starters to you without asking, then charge for them at the end though not #14.