Wanting to be prepared, yesterday evening we went to the Avis rental office to ensure that our car would be ready. Oh yes, they told us. Nine o'clock. No problem. Your car will be here.
When we arrived at 9:00 this morning, you guessed it. No car. There was a problem with the battery, but the car would be ready in an hour. We wanted to get a few groceries for our trip anyway, so we went to Acima, the grocery store, bought some water and fruit, and then went back to Avis. Still no car. The young guy who is obviously the gofer of the company was instructed to take us to a restaurant where we could enjoy some mint tea or coffee at their expense while we waited. We did enjoy the mint tea. The second-hand smoke, not so much. Oh well...
The car finally arrived at about 10:45, and we set off for Fes. Google Maps was invaluable in directing us out of the city and onto the highway. Fortunately, traffic in Morocco is nothing like Cairo (or videos I've seen of India and Bangladesh), and Dave did not find the driving difficult at all.
The highway, which is a tollway, was in excellent condition and not very busy. Most of the way the speed limit was 120 kph, so we made good time. These Arabic road signs did not let us forget that we were not in Alberta!
We arrived at our hotel in Fes in the late afternoon. Thinking that driving into Fes's medina area would probably not be easy or pleasant, we had booked a hotel away from the city centre. It turned out to be quite luxurious. A little bit expensive, but not exorbitant, by North American standards. After settling in, we went for a short walk to explore our immediate surroundings and to pick up some water and fruit from Acima, which was conveniently nearby.
