November 9

Our hotel in Essouria was right in the Medina which borders the Atlantic ocean. 4 of us left first thing in the morning to explore the harbour where fishermen sell their wares and blue boats filled the area. Next we set off on a nice, long walk on the endless beach. Having worked up an appetite, we checked out the stalls selling sea food. One offered us a tray full of assorted sea food for a set price so we sat down to wait. He barbecued it over hot coals and served us as it was ready. We enjoyed sardines, snapper, bream, sole, calamari, octopus and shrimp along with salad and bread. What a feast!

We wandered the medina for a few hours and incurred the anger of a few souks when we didn’t even want to bargain, just look. Some of them even curses and said “what kind of tourists are you?!” It certainly wouldn’t have inspired us to go back into their shop should we decide to buy something. There are plenty of other souks selling the same products so there’s no need to buy from nasty people.

Dinner was a bowl of soup from one merchant who was really friendly and then a crepe at another.