Marrakesh, day 3

I’m back home now, after a brutal flying day. I started the day at 3:30 AM the 23rd in Casablanca and walked through my doorway at 1:00 AM Saturday the 24th. I slept until 6:45 AM and did some chores, like post office pickup. I also visited our Moraga Wine and Pear Festival and got a pear pie, which I shared with my neighbors. We had a brief catch up session.

I also spent time editing photos and will be adding additional information about what we saw and did these last two days.

it’s now almost 6:00 am Sunday morning, California time. I’ve been awake since 3:00. This is called jet lag..

But back to the trip, day three of Marrakesh.

Our first stop was a visit to the Majorelle Garden, a two acre botanical garden created by French Orientalist artist Jacques Majorelle over almost forty years, beginning in 1923. The property was the residence of the artist and his wife until their divorce. The property was purchased by the fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé in the 1980s who worked to restore it. The villa also houses the Berber Museum.

it is a very popular tourist attraction. Fortunately we were the first in line, so it wasn’t terribly crowded.

The Berber Museum also held some interesting exhibits, especially the clothing and jewelry worn by the people.

Naturally, we exited by the gift shop. We found many Yves Saint Laurent LOVE posters. He began making these as greeting cards in 1970 that he would send to friends, collaborators and clients until 2007. They were fascinating!

We also found a café, and the FIRST decaf coffee in all of Morroco. We also found French smokers, of course.

Sasly, our time in this magnificent garden was coming to an end. Mostafa took a group shot of us.

Next stop: the water museum. This museum is not a tourist attraction, but it is a very important teaching museum, which explains the history of water conservation and plans for the future. There were also quizzes to determine if you understand water conservation. School groups visit this museum.

LUNCHTIME! Mostafa took us to the university area and we ate at one of his student hangouts: grilled beef and French fries, with green tea and sweets for dessert.

Our last stop was a surprise! We had asked Mostafa about the treatment of animals during our tour, so we dropped by the local SPCA, and were given an impromptu tour. This is what I love about OAT: much is unscripted. He knew we were animal lovers so he thought we would appreciate this visit. We did!
This is a no kill shelter.

We went back to our riad for a brief rest, to pack, and to get ready for our final journey: to the south for the post trip with a new guide and driver, or to Casablanca for our final day there before leaving for the airport the next day.

We spied a cat on our walk back through the old town.

Ann had a swim in one of the little pools while I napped. She and I explored other areas of the riad. She’s in a separate building, which is ultra-modern. We loved the details.

Our last activity together was the Farewell Dinner, held at the Red House, a beautiful home that was turned into a riad by a French company.

We started out with a chat and farewell drink of orange juice, pomegranate juice with or without vodka and tasty snacks, then adjourned to dining room tables for our tagine with cornish game hen entree. Dessert was an orange/ cinnamon/ sugar combo with pastry. Decadent and delicious!

We headed home for our last night’s sleep in Marrakesh. Tomorrow we split up. Who will go where? You will find out.