We're on holiday at the moment. Started from 18 January through next week. We went to Morocco last week for a few nights. we drove to Algeciras in Cadiz and then took the ferry across to Ceuta,the Spanish enclave on the coast of North Africa before crossing the border into Morocco. Unfortunately it was quite cold and damp there in Chefchaouen where we headed.
We stayed in a friend's flat the first night but it was not really equipped for cold weather and we basically froze during the night. So the next morning, we went wondering around the medina to see what digs we would happen upon. Shortly, we found the Hotel Barcelona which was in a good location not far from the main plaza and they said they had a double with heat, TV & hot shower. The TV was not really necessary but it was offered, all for the price of 250 dirham per night (roughly 25 Euros); we thought not bad, we checked out the room and decided to move there. When we got all our things installed and turned on the heat, we found that the heater only had a fan, cool and dry function mode that worked...no heat. But there were fantastic blankets available and lots of them so we stayed. However, by morning we decided we could not spend one more night in that cold and thought we would try yet another accommodation in this small town.
When we spoke with the guy at the reception desk, he said we could move to another if we wanted as the room we were in was probably the coldest in the hotel (of course(!) and the other guy from reception is to blame for showing us this room to begin with). Anyway, we happily relocated to another room, slightly bigger, same fantastic blankets and, oh low and behold, the guy from reception came running into the room with an electric oil radiator to hand which he quickly plugged in and turned on, all while holding his toothbrush in between his teeth. Before he could say anything to us, he turned and went into OUR bathroom and finished brushing his teeth!! We looked at each other and thought, no big deal, these people are like this. He had given us a story which I have already recounted a few times to howls of laughter, so it was worth it!!
We stayed there one more night and then made the return journey. I filled the car with diesel in Ceuta and paid an amazing 65 cents per litre, SO cheap.
The French have a big influence in Morocco; French is the second language they teach in school in Morocco. Which brings me to the subject I want to mention here in my blog. This is something I have noticed about French drivers, a habit which I find very annoying whilst driving on a motorway.... perhaps a reader here can explain this annoying habit the French drivers have.
When a French tagged vehicle is travelling in the inside lane (the overtake lane), they tend to leave their left signal indicator flashing as if they are going to make a left hand turn. I noticed this on the way to Morocco because on the Spanish highways near Algeciras, there are lots of cars with French plates as they are heading to/from Morocco. Anyway, this behaviour is something I also noticed when I lived in France about 11 years ago and I found it annoying then too. I did ask my secretary in Paris about this at that time and she was stumped. I asked her if this was something that was taught in French driving schools as a requirement of some kind (you know the French had those yellow headlights on their cars for decades while the entire rest of the planet did not) and she replied "Non." So it is something they pick up from each other driving around on their own.
What does it mean? Why do they do it? Do they realise how annoying they are being to other drivers who have no idea why these cars are zipping along with their left indicator flashing? Where did they learn this from if it is not a driving requirement in France?
Well, I digress from my topic of holiday. But I do want an answer to that query if someone would be so kind!
We are still on holiday; Ivan went to visit his family up north this morning and I stayed here to as I wanted to relax at home for a few more days before we start work again. I have to go and clean the house now so I will say ciao for now. I do have a couple of more stories to recount and will do so this weekend.
One more thing, while we were away, the hotel bookings keep on a coming!! All good!!
