A highlight of the whole tour today – a visit to Moulay Idriss, a village near Meknes, and home for the past seven years to Englishman Mike Richardson.

We left Fès in two mini buses at 9.30am and then spent three and a half wonderful hours in Mike’s multi level home overlooking the town with panoramic views over the hills and the stream below.

Moulay Idriss was the Prophet’s great-grandson who established Islam in Morocco in the late 8th Century.  His mausoleum is the centrepiece of the town and Mike’s house has a bird’s eye view of it and the mosque.

Mike is the owner of Café Clock in Fès and Marrakech and he served us the most wonderful lunch, with a personalised menu incorporating our tour logo.

The painters were busy and the non-painters just enjoyed the view and hearing Mike’s amazing stories. We had a quick “show and tell” of the artists’ work before clambering down the hill to our buses for the long journey back to Casablanca.

Dinner – our last joint dinner together – was at Rick’s Café, created by our good friend Kathy Kriger to bring the famous Bogart-Bergman legend to life in Casablanca.  (Rick’s in the movie existed on a Hollywood movie set — this is the first and only one in Casablanca).  A wonderful and special meal while Issam, Kathy’s general manager, played As Time Goes By on the piano.