Following our rearranged schedule, we took the morning train to Tangier. This is the newly developed fast train line up the west coast of Morocco, developed along with the French and using TGV style trains. The trip was very smooth, though slightly predictably ran around 20 minutes late. In Tangier we had booked into the IBIS, less than a ten minute walk from the station, which should have been nice and easy were it not for zebra crossings over some very major roads. Zebra crossings don’t seem to have much legal meaning in Morocco and presumably the answer in their highway code test (though with the driving we have seen it is questionable that they have one!) about ‘What do you do at a zebra crossing?’ is either ‘Whatever‘ or perhaps ‘Aim at pedestrian and accelerate‘. Still, we made it alive ….
For the afternoon, we decided to head for a different area of Tangier. On the ‘advice’ of the Lonely Planet guide, we set off to walk up to the Café de Paris. This is apparently a famous (or infamous?) café which has a connection with international spying. During the International Zone period from 1923 to 1952, the café was a known meeting spot for undercover spies.
The Tangier International Zone was a 147 sq mile international zone around Tangier. It existed from 1925 until its reintegration into Morocco (which was now independent) in 1956.It was interrupted during wartime but the special economic status of the zone carried on until early 1960. The zone was bordered on the land side by the Spanish protectorate in Morocco and was governed in quite a complex way by several European nations, the United States (mainly after 1945), and even the Sultan of Morocco who was himself under a French protectorate. This unusual status meant that Tangier was a hotbed for Moroccan nationalists wanting independence, but also led to it being a hotspot for spies and writers who got inspiration from the complex cultural mix.
As part of this intriguing mix, the Café de Paris was apparently a discreet and central location for gathering intelligence. This seems odd as if everyone knew about it, the whole point seems to be lost? However, after a fifty minute walk it was a welcome stop for a cup of coffee, though, being quite a traditional institution they don’t really do any food, so a croissant seemed the most appropriate adjunct to the coffee.
Given that they didn’t do food, we headed off to a restaurant that looked good. It was run by someone who had spent a lot of time in Manchester, but also had French and Moroccan parents, so the food was certainly what you would call ‘fusion’. Plus it was excellent – she recommended a Vietnamese beef stew and it was very good. A walk back to the hotel helped digest that well – a few bursts of adrenalin each time you cross the road certainly help quicken the circulation …..