{"id":2925,"date":"2024-05-25T07:41:04","date_gmt":"2024-05-25T07:41:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/madbikerides.com\/?p=2925"},"modified":"2024-05-25T07:41:08","modified_gmt":"2024-05-25T07:41:08","slug":"35-settat-to-casablanca","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/madbikerides.com\/?p=2925","title":{"rendered":"35. Settat to Casablanca"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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We decided to take an off-road route today to get away from the main road! Usually all but impossible in Morocco\u2026but today the additional distance was manageable!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It was a great start to the day!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Coffee break\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2026.with camels!! Apart from two just outside Meknes, we really have not seen any! But here at least a dozen\u2026babies and all!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Very cute really!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Still very windy\u2026..but a nice short ride today so it did not become overly tiresome\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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With a good downhill into Casablanca. We hit the city with around 20kms still to go\u2026but the ride was better than I feared! Manic in places but overall very manageable\u2026for such a large city!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Casablanca is by far Morocco\u2019s biggest city\u2026with a population of around 3.5m\u2026.more than the next three biggest cities combined (namely Fes, Marrakch and Tangiers!).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was not always so. Indeed in 1906 when the French arrived\u2026the population was only around 12,000! And as recently as independence in 1956\u2026around half the population were European!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No more\u2026.but you can see the leftovers of the huge wealth of the colonists! This particular avenue went on for miles!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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And so to our accommodation\u2026a fantastic flat, with a lift big enough for bikes! Perfect! This morning I discovered that the booking I had prior made had been cancelled!! The old \u2018plumbing problem\u2019 nonsense, which has happened to me a few times before. And it always takes a magical 24 hours to fix! Sounds like double-booking to me! Always irritating\u2026but the second booking is indeed as good as it gets!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So a relaxing afternoon\u2026before wandering the streets. Most of the original growth was in the Art Deco period\u2026so there are some interesting examples\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2026.and the streetscape is quite French in many ways (not surprising of course\u2026!)\u2026plus palm trees!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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As I noted\u2026Casablanca is a relatively new city, not full of \u2018tourist destinations\u2019\u2026so not many tourists at all\u2026just a very pleasant place to wander around.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We did find a great dive bar  (Ma Touraine)\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2026.and then treated ourselves! At Rick\u2019s Cafe..! (from the movie, in case the name does not mean anything!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What a delight!! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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And yes\u2026we do understand the movie was filmed exclusively in Hollywood\u2026and the cafe did not really exist! But some bright spark had the idea of recreating the cafe around 20 years ago! And it really is a delight! Pastiche maybe\u2026but beautifully done\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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(Monstrously expensive) Casablanca beers of course. And smoking inside in a fancy restaurant\u2026those were the days!! Just not Ingrid Bergman as company!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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And wonderful (& not so monstrously expensive) food. We went for the special\u2026a giant rib-eye for two! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Great evening all round!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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And even our two taxi rides were an experience to remember. Honestly\u2026like mad super-fast dodgem cars. Not for the feint-hearted!! (\u2026taxis sitting outside Rick\u2019s Cafe were charging a full ten times the going rate, but 100 yards away taxis were happily on the meter!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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