We have a surprise guest this morning, the rain!

Your tons of water have been pouring down on the whole region since the middle of the night. When we wake up we discover the bivouac with our feet in the slush....

But no time to hang out! If until today the bivouac did not move, allowing us to leave tent and duvets on the spot, this fourth stage takes us further south towards Mech Irdane.

So we pack the things and the tent...

You remember, in step 2, I told you about the famous tent that unfolds in 2 seconds...well, to fold it up...it's not the same...imagine in the pouring rain! Once again Véro is in control and we charge Pupuce, which she will place in 3B today to take the start of the 110 km of this stage.

Under the restaurant tent, it's chaos, the carpets are engulfed in huge puddles and water flows between the assembled tents. 2/3 of the tables are soggy and unusable. I find an almost dry corner to put my maps and prepare a breakfast while waiting for the briefing.

This morning, everything is different, the Orgas are worried, we hear that the whole region is under water, that the start will be delayed today...

And finally, the ax falling, step 4 will not take place. It's a first in the Rally's 29-year life, but they have no choice but to cancel it. The Cœur de Gazelle vehicles got stuck in the mud and the risk is too great for the more than 200 vehicles that we are building. There wouldn't be enough help to get us all out of the way.

It's a shame, we were looking forward to the mud, Véro and Pupuce love it, and Véro is sure of it, we would have had a great stage! Never mind...

A few crews are still in the dunes of Merzouga this morning. They didn't find their way out yesterday. The Staff reassures us, Orgas watched over them all night from a distance. The rain will make their passage easier this morning by packing down the sand and making it harder.

So we have a day off. Some redeploy their tents on soggy, muddy ground to rest. Others like us take their vehicle to visit the region.

We leave in the direction of Rissani to discover its Souk and find souvenirs to thank our supporters.

Leaving the bivouac, we will meet the first crews returning from Merzouga. The cancellation of the stage is a godsend for them, otherwise they would have had to start straight away.

On the road to Rissani, we pass the Kasbah of our friend Brahim where we spent the night before the prologue. What a pity we don't have a phone!

After our visit to the Souk we find ourselves a little deprived but in the end the desert will put our friend Brahim on our way.

This generous man will lend us a room at the Kasbah to take a good (real..) shower and rest in a real bed: Vero will choose to rest by the pool while I fall into a deep sleep carried away by comfort from the room. Thank you Brahim!

We will enjoy a quiet afternoon and a wonderful dinner with our friend before returning to the bivouac.

We have been warned, tomorrow we will start an hour earlier than planned to cover by road the distance that separates us from the start of stage 5, our first marathon stage.

Stage classification: no ranking today

General classification: 28th, 180.23 km of penalties