Hotel in Rabat

Steph says:
We arrived in Rabat late last night. Our Riad, Villa Mandarine is filled with gorgeous rugs. I am in heaven! I realized that I already own several from my trip here twenty years ago  that now reside in David's apartment in Chicago. We plan to buy a rug for our great room downstairs. After 9 years, Dwight has agreed to replace the one he brought with him.

We are going to tour Rabat this morning and then drive to Fez this afternoon. Our guide Azis who wears large black spectacles, is very informative. He looks like a French film director. Since French is the second language, after Arabic, most everything is in French. Many people speak French and English.

The food (croissants and flaky pastry for breakfast) shows a heavy French influence. Asiz told us there is a good wine here. He appears to be a foodie which is great. He also recommended a book, The Time in Between by Marguerite Duenas  which I immediately ordered (not available on Kindle). I recommended The Forgiven by Lawrence Osborne which is a riveting novel about a British couple's misadventure in Morocco.