Fes; Riad Jean-Claude and Ain Azliten

I'm not quite sure about this trip to Fes. We had been planning it for months but were insufficiently informed. In Taroudant it was 26C yesterday and will be that or higher all week. In Fes it is 16C. We had expected it to be slightly cooler but 10 degrees is a lot and we haven't really brought the right wardrobe. Beloved went out on the evening we arrived and realised that he was the only person wearing sandals and that his feet were cold, so yesterday was a bit of a scramble to buy socks.

The Riad is lovely, owned by a retired Frenchman from Lille, and has a lovely garden. I am particularly annoyed that his dark blue paint does not appear to have any weathering problems. The garden though could be in europe and the morning chorus feels more like Wales than Morocco as there are thrush and collared doves in with the cheepy small birds.

Jean-Claude introduced us to the excellent guide system with a book and map in english in our case pointing out various colour coded routes through Fes el Bali with indicator markers and exploratory boards. 

The system was set up in 2005 and we found it a little frustrating as a fair few of the attractions we wished to vist were closed, usually for renovation. Yesrday's count was the Water Distributor, the Mesbahiya Medersa and the Dar Ba Mohammed Chergui garden.

One of the advantages of the Riad is that it is just outside the Medina with guarded parking outside the door but is very close to the access point at Ain Azliten. The garden there is described by the guide-book as the least attractive on the root but I would describe as abandoned.