This is the Fès medina taken from a lookout to the south of the old city showing how congested it is and why you shouldn’t try to navigate on your own without a guide.

So this morning we were all escorted through the labyrinth to the Palais  Glaoui where our artists spent the day in this quiet old and somewhat (actually quite a lot) dilapidated building that was once the Fès home to a powerful, despotic and somewhat corrupt (actually quite a lot) Pasha from southern Morocco.

You can see a lot of its former magnificence in the painted window shutters, the zelige (tiles or azulejos) and in the stained glass windows that signify an owner of considerable wealth.

A descendent of the original owners, Sidi Abdou is an an accomplished artist and as well as being caretaker of the old palace, he uses the building for his studio.  This is he, our host for the day:

And this is our group, in whom he was mightily interested:

Meanwhile, the four non-painters were taken on a tour of Fès to see the King’s palace, the Jewish quarter, the lookouts and the famous Fès pottery.

Dinner tonight is at Dar Roumana and tomorrow we head south to Azrou.