Traveling

When we next go to Morocco - probably next spring

we'll certainly goto Essouira --we've been there every year for the past thirteen year and it's always a wonderful blue oasis after the warmth of  Marrakesh.

The air is so clear and bright and the shadows so crisp.

Here in the Hotel Riad al Madina where we often stay

This is the corner of a friend's house in the old part of Marrakesh -such a typical chair!

And here the Jardin  Majorelle with their reflecting palms and little hidden frogs...

 and a bench to sit on in the dappled shade.  I'm counting the days.

Flights of Fancy

Reflecting recently on Marrakesh -really detailing everything a gardening

 friend needs to see -I decided that

the Jardin Majorelle comes pretty close to the top of the list

as does the Bahia Palace (jasmine in their garden)

and the delights of jumbled tile.

A lover of flowers should rush immediately to the Mellah market

 and ask for Said and fill wherever they're staying with roses. 

This last photo is from a roof garden with desert plantings

 ( like Crown of Thorns) - much more sensible really considering the climate.

Moroccan Tales/ Must Reads

Tomorrow Robert's art show opens in Chelsea, New York, which made me think back to his studio on Derb Djedid where these red people were painted -- all of them walking across Djemma Elfna.

The little house was a place where I did lots of writing --and reading too, so I'm really looking forward to reading The Last Storytellers: Tales from the Heart of Morocco,  a collection of traditional tales collected by Richard Hamilton which has just been published in England and will appear in the US in July. Update: A really terrific book. Reads just like Grimm's Fairy Tales. Wonderful stuff!

Must reads about Marrakesh include Peter Mayne's 1956 A Year in Marrakesh (Eland Press) and Leonora Peet's almost-impossible-to-track -down Women of Marrakesh which contains one of the most chilling stories I've ever read called "Couscous of the Dead".

Anyone setting out on the great adventure of owning a house in Morocco should read Tahir Shah's The Caliph's House --or read it anyway; it's stunningly good.
And if you haven't yet read The Arabian Nights, well, a treat in store.