(Photo - Fantasia on Essaouira Beach Near Fanatic)

Essaouira Fanatic Cafe to Open Soon

The new beachfront Fanatic Cafe is very close to complete and is scheduled to open next weekend. The new Fanatic has been completely rebuilt from the ground up, but remains under the same ownership. It looks like it will be a midrange Cafe-Restaurant serving seafood and Moroccan specialties with entrees ranging from 90 to 180 dirhams.

Before the current transformation, the Fanatic was known as the coolest hangout for windsurf and kite surfers. It hosted the only cafe on the Boardwalk and even had a pool table in a little room near the sidewalk. The clientele was diverse from old businessmen to young surfers. It was the perfect place for that post surf warm-up cafe.

Times change and the owner decided that more could be made with a posh restaurant-cafe, than renting space to surfers and selling 5 dirham coffee. It's always sad to see a surf related place go down, but we still have the Ocean Vagabond that seems to be going strong.

The Fanatic Cafe is located in the little cafe strip that is on the Boardwalk just south of the Sofitel.

Other News:

This past week Essaouira lost one its most respected citizens with the passing of 'Hadj' the owner of the Hotel Al Medina and the Hotel Beau Rivage. I had known Hadj for quite a few years because when I first came to Essaouira I lived on the Roof of the Beau Rivage with another great Essaouira character "Christoph" Gilmore. Chris had known Hadj since the early seventies when he was the main man Riad Al Medina. Chris used to say that Hadj was the classiest man he ever knew in Essaouira

No matter where I ever met Hadj he always said a kind "Bonjour." I often saw him riding his bike on the boardwalk, smiling and greeting people as he went past. This would make me smile. I couldn't believe that one of the richest men in Essaouira was so humble and nice.

Everyone will miss this great man. He is survived by his two sons.

Weather - I will be windy the first half of this week with rain on Tuesday. The wind will end on Thursday and we should have a great weekend.

Check the surf here:

http://www.windguru.com/int/index.php?sc=26

Check the Weather Here:

http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/getForecast?query=essaouira

Next Week: Full Report On New Nautical Center Being Built at the End of the Boardwalk that will house the new Ocean Vagabond.

Current Events:

The Alliance Françoise is hosting the exhibition «Le Maroc à contre-jour» de Jean-Claude Laffitte - Du 3 au 24 février - Vernissage le samedi 3 février à 19h.

For at full schedule of events at the Alliance Françoise, go to their website at:

http://www.ambafrance-ma.org/institut/afm-essaouira/index.cfm?num=948&archives=1&motcle=28

The Alliance Françoise is located on Rue Laalouj not far from Dar Suki.

Upcoming Events

10th Annual Essaouira International Gnaoua Festival 2007 June 19 - 23. For all information go to the offical websight at: http://www.festival-gnaoua.co.ma/

Blog Posted each Monday by Ron Bauer, see you soon!