Life and death in the Fez Medina - the latest gossip.

The ex-pats in the Medina are gearing up for another year. Holidays are over, Eid ( when too much lamb is never enough) has been well and truly enjoyed and renovation and restoration is back on schedule.

Australians Pete and Karen have been hard at work, but not so much that they couldn't do a bit of socialising with Louis Fez.

Louis builds a foot-spa?

Talking of Louis - he is back from an extended break and according to his blog is enjoying his house. The renovations appear to be on schedule and the photographs on his blog are proof of some very fine work by local craftsmen. According to Louis:

The terrace bedroom is all done with new plaster, stripped wood doors and shutters and oh deep joy electricity so I consequently rushed over to Adels house with Ben and moved my various Moroccan belongings over in about an hour flat. Managed to barter a gas heater from Adel as the nights are getting chilly and so with incense stick lit, Ipod on shuffle and Keith Richards autobiography at hand i awaited Bens delivery of a double mattress. And so there I was at home on the terrace menzeh with views out to the starry Medina, the odd howling dog and lounging with Silk cut in hand on the leopardskin throw. At that point I could not have been happier but it was not to last...

Check out Louis and his interesting blog here: Louis Fez

Derf has been rhapsodising about the weather and working hard on a new business which we will update you about when the details become available. Subby is still in Japan, but expected to return in April after a trip to Ethiopia. Samir and Zany are in Australia appearing at a music festival . Our friend Stig must have struck a deal with British airways - or else he is suffering a burst of Brit patriotism - because he has been posting about cheap BA flights. Artizany - the free personal and classified advertising site has had some interesting posts with the latest being an invitation for submissions from filmmakers.

The late Ghengis
Riad Zany is mourning the death of Ghengis. The longest surviving chameleon was rescued from a cage in the Medina eight months ago and did a fabulous job of cleaning up every fly that was silly enough to land on the orange or lemon tree. Sadly he secumbed to the cold. He will be missed.

The campaign against the offensive blue lights on the Hotel Merinides is back on track. The English neon sign is gone but an Arabic version is still in place. As this is an illegal situation, we hope that the authorities will move quickly to have the visual pollution removed.

And then... the issue of the motorbikes in the Medina - sadly the police are still not cracking down on them. We live in hope.

Tags: Moroccan Morocco Fes, Maghreb news