A Town of Blue Doors/Essouira/Maroc

Marrakesh is dusty pink and rose and coral; Essouira on the Atlantic Coast

 is blue and white with splashes of yellow.

Almost every single door is blue.....

 From the grocery...

 ...to the one behind the basket seller's....

 ...and old doors to houses needing restoring

 Then, an anomalous red door -- just to keep you awake....

 

and blue

...and faded blue

...and very weathered indeed.

Doors and Windows in Gueliz/Marrakesh

Last Sunday morning we went up to Gueliz early, so all these photos are from the French colonial part of Marrakesh.

Gueliz is very different from the medina --obviously much newer -- but the bright clear Moroccan light and the love of color and decoration is very much the same. Here grille, tiles -and yes it is Astroturf!

This is the beer garden -- off limits to most Moroccans who prefer not to drink alcohol

 -- but much beloved by the ex-pat community.

As above

Yes, indeed. One is rendered quite speechless by pink and mauve with brown and tan tiles......!

Another abandoned shop quite close by.

Patisserie Marocaine glimpsed through the window. This will have to wait until after lunch.....

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Scenes from Everyday Life/Marrakesh Medina

Some informal pictures of ordinary life in the old town.

Coffee, conversation and watching the world go by.....

 Bringing chickens to market.

 A woman in very traditional dress -- most younger ones are far less covered up.

Sweet pastries in the souk.

 The food stalls as dusk falls over the main square.

A rather alarming and all too common sight --two men up ladders doing important stuff to the electrics.

I'm glad it isn't me.

Waiting to buy the perfect chicken for dinner at the mellah covered market.

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FFFMMore recent pictures of Morocco here and here

Patterns at the Palace/Morocco

Such colors and designs!

all photos taken at the Bahia Palace in Marrakesh, Morocco. Feb 2011

 Every available surface is patterned and decorated.

In the first courtyard

  

and the second.....

 Even the doors of the cupboards.....

And beneath the old, magic mirror....

Such floors!

This last picture is of Sindibad, the handsomest cat in Marrakesh who 

isn't in the palace but wanted to be in the blog!

Colors to Delight

Friday spent wandering around......

 Flowers in the garden of La Mamounia the wonderfully posh hotel where Winston Churchill stayed long, long ago.....and where we did not stay....

 Cushions on the roof of riad Rimal where our friend Ismail now works

Even the street signs have a certain  shabby-chic charm.

The villa in the grounds of the Jardin Majorelle is painted.......bleu majorelle ---how could one guess!

The tea shop in the same place.....

The rood of riad Rimal......hindi or cactus fruit of a lovely plum color.

In the evening, when it turned chilly, we sat by the wood fire.

For many more pictures of Morocco go here

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Moroccan SnapShots

Before we lived in New York, we lived in Marrakesh for two years.

See here

We are now back there for a short while...

enjoying mysterious doors....

... pastilla....which is flaky pastry with nuts and chicken and powdered sugar.......

 ...not to mention the fruit juice......

 ...the pot pourri

 and the lanterns.

last of all, a cat in the fruit market who is about to produce lots of little cats any minute...

this photo is for Joan Rundo who makes super cat calendars every year!

Glimpses of Maroc

Total jet lag

Airport in Casablanca

 Marrakesh

The same

Waiting.....

A Hint of Pink: or the Dawnserly Light

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In the late afternoon, the sun paints otherwise dull buildings nice pastel colors.

Very early this morning the sky was beautifully pink --- looking both to the West...

...and to the East.

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