Meknès and Azrou

Am walking around the medina today with all its sights and sounds. I really have a great view of it from the terrace during breakfast at the restored 18th-century palace, where I'm staying (Dar El-Ghalia). Yesterday, I visited Meknès and the Azrou cedar forests. Since it's the slow season here, I was given a suite at a discount.The picture of me is in the royal granaries of Moulay Ismail (1672-1727) at Meknès, designed to store grain for the 12,000 horses in the royal stables-not just for a few days but over a 20-seige if necessary. The waterwheel, partially visible in the foreground, forced water through underground ducts and, along with the thick walls, maintained a stable temperature in the granaries. The royal stable's remains are behind the granaries; but the roofs were lost in the 1755 Lisbon earthquake. The granaries have such symmetry and grace that some have called them the cathedral of grain. Then I went to Azrou (Berber for rock) and saw the nearby cedar forests-and some of the Barbary apes that live there. Cedar has been prized for building in Morocco for centuries. Intricate cedar carving graces ceilings and wall trim in some of the older homes.