Fes is surrounded by walls that extend for nearly 10 miles and basically has three important sections to sightsee or not:

- Fes el Bali, the medieval city (Medina) where half the population still lives;

- Fes el Jedid, the 13th century section where you’ll find the Mellah, or old Jewish quarter (been there, done it); and

- The Ville Nouvelle, built by the French during the Protectorate and usually skipped.

Out of the Fes el Jedid section and over to a scenic outlook by the North Fortress for vistas of both old and new Fes. Your first image of Fes is a sea of satellite dishes in a blaze of white. There must have been thousands piled on roofs as far as the eye could see and it took a while to concentrate on the important details of Fes. Rachid pointed out the Medina/Souk area, the Palace area, a Jewish cemetery in one direction and huge Arab cemetery in another.

There was the white tower of the University of Al-Karaouine considered to be the oldest continuously operating academic degree-granting university in the world. The University of Al-Karaouine was originally a madrasa founded in 859 by two sisters who were the daughters of a wealthy merchant from Kairouan, Tunisia who emigrated to Fes. Fatima and Mariam were well educated and inherited a large amount of money from their father. They spent their entire inheritance on the construction of the mosque that eventually developed over the years into a place for learning. The University of Al-Karaouine Library compiled a large selection of precious manuscripts. The group walked by the Al-Karaouine Library in the old section but were not allowed to enter.

On the other side of Fes, we picked out the South Fortress ruins in the hills. Both fortresses were used for defensive purposes and interconnected under the entire city of Fes.

The bus took us to the Poterie des Fes…View image, one of the many workshops that make pottery, and the first “tourist shopping stop” of the day. The tour began in the kiln area where they use olive pits as fuel. Moved along for a demonstration of throwing clay and watching the fascinating blob come to life as a vase…View image, and then the pottery was painstakingly and tediously hand painted with a horse hair. Since I am incapable of drawing a straight line, this astounds me.

Apprentices begin at a very young age and once a potter, the entire family will stay in that profession their entire lives. They work eight-hour days and are paid by the piece. Even though I’ve seen pottery made many times before, it is always interesting.

Into the large showroom selling not only pottery but huge mosaic tables. I must admit that one would have looked wonderful on my patio, and the many salesmen did their best convince me, insisting they it could be shipped safely anywhere in the world. Right!

ex-Marine and I stood around outside the pottery exhibition and noticed an array of black leather hides that had been brought from one of the tanneries to dry in the sun. The group finished looking and buying, and it was back on the bus and down to one of the Medina/souk entrances. A fast banking/ATM stop to change money in what Rachid considered a safe location.

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