Spring came for the day!

Can you believe it Marie,
the rain has stopped!

The bees are sipping the sweet
 nectar from your wisteria.
All is Well!

Alec and I walked through the alleyways to
Irène and Gaby's for le petit déjeuner.
   

"No mom, this was not a pub,
it means no publicity!"]








Our friend Lisa Soltis from Roanoke and her
friend Diana R Livingston from Florida arrived
yesterday afternoon and spent the night at
 Chez Gaby and Irène.

Lisa and Diana

Irene has been learning English with
me every Wednesday afternoon and she
did a fabulous job welcoming our friends
in English.

Lisa, Diana, Alec, Irene and Gaby

Alec came along with me to eat

chocolate croissants and translate

for Gaby in French;  so proud of this son of ours.

After a lovely breakfast we bid au revoir

to Lisa and Diana and returned to our

place, walking through the alleyway....

     

Along rue St. Gorgon....

   

Past the church to home.

Just around the corner from our place....

Upon arriving home, Piper looked at me 

imploringly,"the rain has stopped Jude."

  So off we went.....

a happy dog

In the alleyway toward to woods

backyard next to our apartment
you can see the church

   

meeting new friends

hmmm, they don't seem as friendly as the donkeys

returning home
thanks for the great walk

outside our bedroom door
just waiting for a glass of merlot, eh?

   

Big Brother is Watching Out for You!

No, I don't mean the government,
I mean my older brother Marty
whose birthday we celebrate today.

I know, without a doubt, that if I needed
help in anyway, I could call my older
brother and he would be there for me
as he has always been there for me.

He preceded my present journey to France
by a few decades (or more!) when he came to study at
the  Sorbonne University in France.  Mostly
I remember Marty's return;  sporting fashionably
longish-red hair and wearing a calf length
khaki trench coat. Our little town of North Bay
had never seen such a sight!

Six years my senior, I remember
being duly  impressed with my handsome
older brother.  He definitely passed his fashion
sense down to his four classy kids.

And so Marty, I wish you a happy "new" year.
I celebrate our wild and wonderful journey together.
I am deeply grateful for your presence in my life as
you enrich my world.

I love you  
Jude, one of your little sisters!

Marty is to the left of the rest of his crazy siblings.
He had to look normal as it was the
 wedding of one of his crazy kids!

14 and counting!

Happy Birthday Alec!

Piper and Alec

A birthday doesn't get much better

after a hug from your dog!

breakfast in bed
complete with a Roman Soldier
with the first "clue" as to
where to find his birthday gift

Prashaw's are notorious for dragging out

celebrations, not wanting them to be

finished too quickly.   On Christmas

morning--- you know the day when all kids

arise way before their parents and

rip open their gifts -- the Prashaws

would have to wait.....wait until we all

went to morning mass, wait until we returned

home to a full breakfast,wait until my

dad instructed us all (6 kids) on how to

clean the house, wait while friends called

and told us what they got and asked us

what we got, wait while we finally lined

up at the head of the stairs and after

running downstairs to the  wreck-room,

wait until "Santa" passed out presents,

painfully slowly, one at a time while we

waited yet again to watch each of the presents

being opened;  by the time we finished we

were ready for supper!  

Ah such fond memories ....  

Unfortunately Alec found his wee

gift a bit too soon, though he did

struggle with the clues.

Alec's birthday search video!

From Safi to Dar Bouzza

We left our French family Rachel,Gilles,
 Ludovic and Yaëlle at the Riad in Safi and
made our way up to Dar Bouzza, just about
30 minutes south of Casablanca, with
Mary and Steve.

The Braussen's were heading up to Al Jadida
as Gilles had to work for a couple of days.
Actually, Gilles was working the entire time he
was on holiday;  this is the
downside to cell phone technology.

on the road again with the sheep accompanying us 

tiny villages along the way

eating out takes on a whole new meaning

We stopped along the way at an outdoor restaurant/butcher shop!

You first order the cut of meat you want (no pork here) 

and then take the meat to the next

counter to have it cooked.

cats our ever present, begging under your table

We arrived, exhausted, at Mary and Steve's, grateful

for a quiet reprise.  The Donohoe's live in a gated

community bordering the ocean;

on the road just outside the Gated Community

Mary's totem turtle living in her yard
waiting for strawberries

view from the upstairs bedroom balcony at Mary and Steve's

As a woman, walking along the road in Morocco,

horns are often honking;  not a pleasant feeling.

on the road near Mary and Steve's

looking into Mary and Steve's from the front hall

Mary drove Alec and I to Casablanca,

 parking just outside the city.  You take your life

 into your hands driving in Casa and to preserve

that life it is wise to hire a taxi. Mary parked

the car and we walked a bit to catch a taxi.
"Casablanca (a city of 4 million) was founded by the Berber
fishermen in 10 century BC."  Now that's old!
http://wikitravel.org/en/Casablanca#b

Mariah coming to Morocco

I can see me driving one of these

largest mall in Morocco and no I did
not go in.....I don't even go to Valley View!

taxi drive to Mosque Hassan II in Casablanca

 

All for the glory of Allah, the Hassan II Mosque  is

truly a spectacular edifice designed by French architect

Michel Pinseau and  created by thousands of artisans using

mainly local materials found in Morocco.

Apparently the land upon which the Mosque

stands was originally on "land reclaimed 

(without compensation to former residents) from

a run-down area near the sea."

http://www.sacred-destinations.com/morocco/casablanca-hassan-ii-mosque

Recently the mosque opened its doors to visitors and

I'm certainly glad she did.  

outside the mosque.....

                            

  

main prayer hall

the fine craftsmanship of 6,000 artisans
 is evident everywhere

my oh so Catholic son,
"do the Muslims have saints?"

The complete lack of representional
 art is quite noticeable,

especially if you have seen the Sistine Chapel.    

I must say, though our world has suffered

 deplorable atrocities throughout the centuries

in the name of "religion," we have also 

benefited from beautiful architecture,

magnificent art and fabulous music, all in

the name of religion.

,

hamman, communal bath beneath the mosque

fountains beneath the mosque for ablutions before prayer 

across from the Mosque

hanging laundry on the road just next to the Mosque

After our visit to the mosque we walked along

the main road a bit, trying to flag a taxi.

Our taxi driver was quite interesting;

"Morocco is a beautiful country and so our

her people....they simply lack discipline!"

This is definitely obvious in the amount of

trash piling up everywhere.

Police waiting for the King

Mary and the Police waiting for the King

We finally caught a taxi into town and Mary took us

to a lovely, little restaurant for lunch.

colourful tagines decorating a wall

                                                   

Mary and Alec
No such thing as "fast food" here....it takes awhile
for the meal to arrive

   Mary's friend Catharine joined us and after lunch

we went to the Habous, a much smaller and

calmer market than the Medina in Marrakech.

Catharine and Mary tasting olives

Mary's favourite olive guy

100 dirhams = 10 euros  

                                 

Buying figs

The Braussen's joined us for the final day 

at Mary and Steve's;  Mary put Alec on

the task of making Rice Crispies with 

caramel and chocolate....a big hit with

everyone.                           

  

A final note.  While visiting Morocco I noticed

a lot of cafés frequented only by men.  

 

Walking past these

cafés can be rather intimidating

as the men are rather obvious

in their appraisal of you.

"In Morocco there is essentially no such thing as

a non working woman.  Even if she does not

go out and earn money, she cooks, cleans,

takes care of the kids, etc.  In contrast,

unemployed men abound-they sit at the cafes day

and night."  http://french.about.com/library/travel/bl-ma-women.htm

We hired another car and driver to take

us back to Marrackech and then

we flew back to Paris the next day.

After a 4 hour drive home to Lessy

and Scy Chazelles I slept

for two days!  

Morocco truly is a land

 with a thousand faces.