We had quite a walk today, as we sought to leave the medina behind & venture forth into the 'new town", where the French had established an infrastructure during the time Morocco was part of France. The roads were a tad scary to cross, so to alleviate the tension, we played "spot-the-mobile-phone- tower....
Our destination was the Marjorelle Gardens. This was once the home (&garden) of Jacques Majorelle, a French artist who came to Morocco in 1919, fell in love with the light here & stayed, almost to his death in 1962. The site was later bought by Yves St Laurent, the fashion designer, who upgraded & restored everything. Within steps of a noisy, busy road you step into this oasis, bamboos rise up in an arch forming avenue of green.
Among other plants, there are over 1800 species of cactus set out in stunning groupings...
...making the most of both colour & shape.
There are arbors, painted in the striking blue so beloved of Majorelle, & overhung with flowering strands of green.
And when the garden wandering was done....we explored an extremely well presented Berber culture museum, now residing in the former painting studio. We weren't allowed to take photos in the museum, but it held a fabulous display of tools, clothing , house hold implements, & jewellery, which was particularly interesting because it was displayed on half mannequins showing how it would have been worn. Some of the jewellery would have weighed a lot & other pieces would have required careful use of movement! It was fascinating, beautiful & a good place to visit on a very hot (36 dgree) day!
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