La Corniche

Yesterday, we drove the new highway from Marrakech to Casablanca with Hamoud for a few business meetings, a photo session at the beach (for the tiles) and to have lunch with friends. The fact that the highway is a toll road means fewer vehicles moving faster, and since you no longer need to struggle to pass overladen trucks lumbering along the old winding road, it's a lot more relaxing.

Like the last time we were here, we were thrilled to find the weather at least 25 degrees cooler than Marrakech, and this time we went straight to that tempering cause: the Atlantic.

The wide, sandy beach, which had a retro feel with its sun-bleached umbrellas, was packed with people, though it took us a while to find our way past the walls of private beach clubs to get onto it. We passed numerous soccer games as well as loads of kids braving the chilly Atlantic surf. When we set up the tiles in the wet sand and started snapping away, we created a stir, and soon there were parades of kids and teens angling their way into our shots, pretending to run for the surf just as our shutter was snapping.

Driving by the U.S. Consulate, we were happy to note that it is finally open again, having closed for six weeks for security enhancements after the April bombings in an Internet cafe in Casa. As a new precaution, the Consulate has blocked the sidewalk in front of the building with enormous dumpsters topped with flowers, a sweet attempt at making a massive security feature slightly more inviting.

And we finally got a peek at Tahir Shah's amazing home, whose restoration is recorded in his amusing novel The Caliph's House. With something like 16 bedrooms and 5 courtyards, it's too bad his renovation is complete and he's not in need of cement tiles.