12th May
Part Berber, part Arab, part African, Marrakech is the heartbeat of Morocco, known as “The Red City” for the rose-coloured facades and medina walls.
This morning we are to visit the famous Les Jardin Majorelle, gifted to the city by Yves Saint-Laurent and Pierre Bergé and, for me, one of the tour highlights.
Our walk from the bus took us past the Koutoubia Mosque, or Booksellers Mosque, named after the booksellers who, since construction, have set up their stalls around the Mosque. It is set in gardens and is quite a pleasant walk.
The Majorelle Garden was originally designed by the celebrated French Orientalist painter Jacques Majorelle . As a young aspiring painter, Jacques Majorelle was sent to Morocco in around 1917 to convalesce from a serious medical condition. He travelled to Marrakech and fell in love with the vibrant colours and street life he found there.
He eventually decided to settle permanently in Marrakech and purchased a four-acre plot, situated on the border of a palm grove in Marrakech. Gradually, he purchased additional land and began planting a luxuriant garden which would become known as the Jardins Majorelle The garden became his life’s work and he devoted himself to developing it for almost forty years.
In the 1950s, Majorelle was forced to sell the house and land. After this, the garden was neglected and fell into disrepair. The garden and villa were rediscovered in the 1980s, by fashion designers, Yves Saint-Laurent and Pierre Bergè who undertook major garden restoration work to “to make the Majorelle garden the most beautiful garden, the one that Jacques Majorelle had thought of, envisioned”.
The gardens were as spectacular as we had been led to believe and everything was beautifully maintained. Though there were a lot of visitors, the staff kept the traffic moving so you didn’t have the impression of being crowded. You could spend time to look and photograph but it was a one-way street and there was no doubling back.
Within the gardens is the splendid Berber Museum with displays of exceptional jewellery and ethnic costumes. Next door is the museum dedicated to Yves St Laurent.
There was so much to see and as we wandered through the garden every turn showed something different
Rather reluctantly it was time to leave the gardens and head to our next destination. Some careful navigation through the streets brought us to Le Jardin Secret, which was, in the 19th century, one of the largest riads in the medina of Marrakech. It belonged to the Chancellor of Sultan Moulay ‘Abd-al-Hāfiz, who was the last sultan of Morocco before the French protectorate. The riad includes two courtyards. Both are sacred places and are different representation of paradise.
You enter through the first smaller courtyard which shows one view of paradise, as described in the Old Testament book of genesis, where “out of the ground the Lord God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food.”
The second courtyard is laid out according to rigid geometrical rules, in which the Muslim order asserts itself over the wild disorder of nature.
Having inspected the Courtyards we adjourned for lunch to one of the many rooftop cafes before walking back to our hotel via a Berber Pharmacy, which is a shop that specialises in nature remedies, herbs, spices and other traditional medicinal products
These pharmacies are a common sight in Morocco, especially in older areas and medinas. They are known for their aromatic and visually striking displays of jars filled with various powders, dried plants, and other intriguing items believed to have healing properties.
The pharmacist wore a white coat, the spiel was slick, professional and entertaining. Was it a scam – probably. I bought an inhalant for Edgar, who had returned to the hotel to nurse his cold, some oils that promised to turn back time and had a neck massage. Did they work? The inhalant was powerful and certainly cleared his sinuses, the oils are a work in progress and the neck massage was great!
Our last stop was Djemaa el-Fna Square, where the Berber tribespeople come to sell their wares. Storytellers, acrobats, and entertainers attract the crowds.
It was interesting during the day but really comes alive at night
13th May
Today was a free day before the Farewell Dinner tonight. Most of us spent the day relaxing and getting ready for tomorrow’s departure.
The dinner was held at Da Moha, a fine dining restaurant that specialises in Moroccan cuisine. Its renowned Chef, Moha Fedal, is one of the pioneers of modern Moroccan cuisine and has had restaurants in Paris and Madrid. He is highly awarded and has been on the jury of MasterChef since 2014. He offers a fresh approach to Moroccan cuisine, blending tradition with modernity.
Located in the historic Dar El Bacha district, in the heart of Marrakech, Dar Moha is set within an 18th-century riad, once the home of famed designer Pierre Balmain. The restaurant opens onto a lush garden with a soothing fountain and a pool adorned with Moroccan zellij tiles. Inside, the dining rooms welcome guests under a Baccarat chandelier, surrounded by art pieces personally selected by Chef Moha.
We were greeted at the door by two doormen who ushered us inside to a private dining room where we were seated and served a refreshing mint tea before the procession of food arrived – all beautifully presented and served with a flourish.
Whilst we were eating we were entertained by a trio of Ghana musicians who keep their tassels rotating in time with the music. Not an easy thing to do we found out.
Earlier we had caught a taxi to the restaurant. A hair-raising ride – particularly if you were sitting in the front seat! Traffic in Marrakech is notoriously chaotic. It’s a mix of cars, scooters, mopeds, bicycles, horses, mules, carriages, donkeys, and pedestrians, all vying for space. It’s not that they don’t have road rules like everywhere else, it’s that they are totally ignored and not enforced. I asked the taxi driver if there were many accidents and he replied ‘many, many – everyday, all the time!’
So our group walked back to the hotel. A pleasant stroll through the night streets of Marrakech (as long as you eluded the cars, scooters, mopeds etc) and with that our tour was over. We had made some good friends and had some wonderful (and not so wonderful) experiences. Tomorrow it was off to Casablanca and then to Barcelona to join the Silver Ray, our cruise ship that would take us on the next part of our journey.