We covered a lot of territory on this trip, and our time in Marrakesh was no exception. Since this is my final post for this series, I’m going to round up a variety of highlights from several days. Enjoy a review of a little art, some gardens, a lot of history, and some relaxation.
YSL Majorelle Gardens
In 1923, artist Jacques Majorelle created his dream home, complete with a villa and beautiful gardens. After his death and years of neglect, Yves Saint-Laurent and his partner Pierre Bergé bought the property in 1980 and undertook a total restoration. Today, there are 400 varieties of palms and 1,800 species of cactus, as well as a memorial to YSL and the Pierre Bergé Museum of Berber Arts.
It was really a lovely spot, but these days, very crowded. You must have reservations and then be prepared to stand in a long queue to enter in smaller groups. Security along the planned route keeps everyone moving and under control. There are no photos allowed in the museum. Despite all that, I am still glad we got to see it.
Back to Antiquities
We covered various landmarks during our stay here, and a few are featured in the photos below. Not pictured are the Koutoubia Mosque and La Palmeraie. La Palmeraie (the water-fed palm grove oasis mentioned in previous posts) is huge here. The portions we saw look very bedraggled. Scraggly palms, many with missing fronds, and dozens of camel concessions ready to take tourists for rides. It did not look appealing.
At this point in the trip, we’ve seen a lot of UNESCO sites that honestly began to blur together. Marrakesh was crowded, and it was a bit more difficult to really enjoy the details that make these locations so special. Over the hundreds of years, some sites were built, torn apart, pieces moved, and rebuilt by later rulers – it’s complicated.
A necropolis since 1145, the tombs of the Saadian dynasty date from the late 1500s. Unrecognized and hidden from view for two centuries, they were uncovered and made accessible to the public in 1917.
A Private Collection
The Riad Kniza , located in the Medina, was our home while in Marrakesh. It was a great example of an innovative owner who combined several historic riads into one, uniquely lovely historic property.
I was wandering around the Riad’s public areas, taking pictures of the wonderful paintings, when a gentleman stopped and introduced himself. It turns out it was the owner of the property, Mohamed Bouskri. I knew he had a private museum and had not yet seen it, so I jumped at the chance when he offered to take us himself. He and his wife were antique dealers, and his collection, gathered in honor of his parents, is wonderful, well-curated, and beautifully displayed and labeled. Unlike the Berber museum at the Majorelle Gardens, his signage includes English. I’m showing just a few examples here. BTW, he also has a great gift shop with antiques and jewelry his wife makes using antique pieces, as well as a boutique run by his daughter.
The Iconic Hotels: La Mamounia & Royal Mansour
This adventure is in the books. We enjoyed our time in Morocco and felt very welcome here. I confess, it was hard to keep my eyes open during the three-hour drive back to Casablanca to catch our flight home. Til next time.
Parts of three days in Marrakesh were spent exploring different sections of the Medina and souks.
Once again, Audley Travel set us up with a local guide, Jameil who taught us a lot and introduced us to local traditions. He seemed to know dozens of people we passed along our travels.
How much can we eat?
Our first night in town we enjoyed a food tour, sampling along the way.
We had assorted nuts, the wonderful local soup, Harira (usually a mainstay during Ramadan), and three varieties of really delicious flatbreads (m’semen) filled with onion, apricot, and honey. That was plenty for my dinner and we were just getting started.
At a tea break we got some exposure to a spot where locals rent bare rooms for $1-5-a-day (depending on the floor). There does seem to be a culture of sharing here, it’s interesting to see in action. People step-up to fill in or help out throughout the souks. Even taking temporary duty to watch someone’s stall.
We selected a dozen pastries for later, and tried some ground liver and bread (it was very good).
The finale was a meal in the Jemaa el-Fna, a famous UNESCO square filled with all sorts of food, people and chaos. We skipped anything to do with the poor monkeys exploited for entertainment and didn’t see any of the rumored snake charmers. There’s music, lots of chatter, a big line at the ATM, people of all ages in every kind of attire imaginable, blocks of food stalls, and what seemed like dozens of dealers hawking fresh-squeezed orange juice.
By now, we were completely full from everything we had already eaten … but we weren’t done yet. We joined a communal table next to a mother and her adult daughter, and immediately declined to try the cow’s brain and other organs the mother was having (her daughter told us, she wouldn’t eat it either). We did enjoy the shredded beef in gravy we ended up trying. At our last stall we tried a hot digestive brew loaded with herbs and spices. Then, we rolled back to our Riad for the night.
Browsing & Shopping
Shopping the narrow alleys was fun. You have to constantly dodge the motorbikes and are supposed to walk with confidence and let them deal with it!
It was great to have a guide to steer us to the better items. Vendors were pretty candid about what was authentic, I think because he was with us.
I do believe I may have gotten market-style shopping out of my system.
Does this look familiar?
If you’ve followed my blog for a while, you know I am a huge Game of Thrones fan. This UNESCO site, Ait Benhaddou, was the setting for Yunkai in season 3. Notably, it was in the finale scene where Daenerys Targaryen was celebrated by the freed slaves. In case you missed that series, it was also used as settings in in The Mummy, Gladiator 1 & 2, Alexander, Kingdom. of Heaven, and Lawrence of Arabia.
It made the route to Marrakesh even more interesting to see this site.
You can sill see evidence of earthquake damage in throughout as well as some roadwork along our route. Restoration is underway at the ancient site and we saw road crews working in numerous spots.
The drive included lots of switchbacks, and we climbed to an elevation of more than 7,000 feet through the High Atlas Mountains. The two-lane road was in good shape and did have guardrails. It was a beautiful drive of striking scenery with craggy, rock mountains, some snow on the peaks, and the occasional sheppard tending his flocks of sheep just off the pavement.
Up next – Marrakesh!
My usual reference when I hear “oasis” is the Garth Brooks bar song. But, not this time.
Thanks to Audley Travel for recommending the beautiful Ksar El Kabbaba.
You can see the ruins of the original fortification looming over the newer buildings. The property has been in the same family for more than 230 years, seven generations.
The gardens were beautiful with many intimate nooks and pathways.
The facilities were spacious with smaller lounge areas outside clusters of rooms. The dinner service was wonderful. I’d love to know how they made onion soup so delicious.
Now, I’ll try to explain our hammam experience.
It is traditional for Moroccans to do a hammam every week and there are public facilities throughout. We are going the private spa route.
Let’s say it was a very revealing experience. First we were placed in a steam room. I don’t know how hot it was, but I can report it was the hottest experience I have ever had. It felt like I was literally melting.
Then, after laying on marble slabs for a black soap cleanse, we were doused with water – it seemed like a lot of water (waterboarding came to mind). At least by now, we were cooled down. It was followed by a wonderful one-hour massage with locally pressed olive oil (no worries, you do not smell like cooking oil). Be prepared to shower after and wash your hair several times to get the oil out.
Even though the intense steam heat was tough, it was a great experience that I think every female visitor to Morocco should try.
