Grandson Andrew and I decided to return to Paris and Morocco once again, and why not visit Bruges, Belgium as well.

Arriving to a cold, rainy Paris, we did our best to hike the city between cold downpours, visiting Notre Dame and Rue Mouffetard, and during the rainfalls we walked the crowded halls of the Louvre museum, and the museum of the dead (better known as the Paris Catacombs).

Paris oddities, nods to the arts, catch my eye when I walk about – enormous paintings on apartment walls or small ones on the front of a restaurant or store.

I managed to visit a writer friend of mine who still lives in Paris (we met 40 years ago in a Paris writers group) – she thinks at times to leave, to the countryside or the sea, but the allure of Paris still holds her.

We took the train to Bruges, Andrew and I. Not because I knew anyone there, but because I had seen the movie ‘In Bruges’. Took the bullet train from Gare du Nord, only to change trains in Brussels to the wrong train. Luckily we got off at the next stop and caught the next train back to Brussels and boarded the right train to Bruges. (In short – the signs are confusing and the trains leave one after another to different destinations on the same track every few minutes).

We took long walks, ate waffles and fries as dictated by the tour book. And really enjoyed a canal boat ride around the city.

On day two we climbed the bell tower and had our ear drums broken.

On our last day the setting sun spoke to me, drew me to the canal, where I found still water with wonderful reflections

Then we took the train back to Paris, to catch our flight to Casablanca, Morocco, where we would stay with my old friend Noureddine. We worked together in Paris 40 years ago at Schlumberger, where we liked to walk the streets of Paris and discuss the world-wide travel Schlumberger afforded us.

Noureddine and his wife Farah own a nice house in Casablanca, a rather booming city in the north of Morocco. Their son is in Montreal getting his engineering degree while their daughter lives in Paris, working as an ecology scientist for L’Oreal.

Noureddine was nice enough to drive us a couple of hours to Marrakesh in the same Honda Accord he drove us in 11 years before (gotta love those Hondas!)

Marrakesh’s walled souks market is basically a huge maze of covered stalls. The 1st time I visited many years ago, I was lost inside for 3 hours – couldn’t find the exit! I finally paid a lad to guide me out. Every evening, outside the market, in a big square, they open food and drink stalls, while snake charmers charm and musicians play and the tourists and locals mingle until midnight. Every evening!

All in all, a good couple weeks visiting friends and letting the exotic come in.