Postcard from Marrakech 18 December 2015 - 3 January 2016

I left London on a grey but warm day and arrived in Marrakech on a beautiful evening.  Checked into my little Riad [hotel] - La Maison Arabe – a quaint little hotel which is in hidden in the middle of the Medina.  It is all up and down stairs but seems efficient, and my room although rather dark has a nice balcony overlooking a courtyard.  The pool is strangely in the middle of the dining area so I took myself off to their Country Club fifteen minutes away on day one.  All very nice except that the pool is not heated so icy cold and not to be entered!

 On my third day I did a walking tour of Marrakech in the morning with an excellent guide.  It was a cool day so I wasn’t missing any sunbathing.  I did go to the solarium in the hotel in the afternoon to try and find some sunshine, but I didn’t last long there as it was so cool, so retired to my balcony in the courtyard and did some tapestry - no sun of course there.  On Tuesday morning I made a brief visit to the amazing little Majorelle Gardens, which Yves St Laurent bought to save them from being destroyed.  They are rather beautiful and very colourful in a strange way!  Then I went off back to the Club to soak up a little more of the rather weak sunshine.  In fact I spent every day there, even if the pool was cold, at least you could lie out in the sunshine, which was fairly warm between 11am and 4pm. 

The dining area in the hotel is outside with covered side areas and warm heaters.  It is decidedly chilly at breakfast time, and wasn’t very comfortable in the evening either.  Thankfully after about four days they opened another restaurant inside the hotel, La Marocain, so I went there every evening especially since one of the waiters looked after me exceptionally well!  The odd extra ‘top-up’ was much appreciated!

On Monday 28^th I had a car, guide and driver to take me up into the Atlas Mountains for the day.  It was a beautifully sunny day, if cool outside the car!  We spent the morning travelling up and into the mountains – stunning scenery and a most enjoyable drive.  Then we drove down towards the Ourika Valley where we stopped for a light lunch.  After a short walk around Ourika, we made our way slowly back to Marrakech.

Although I enjoyed the relaxation I missed being able to take any exercise – a lone female walking the streets is not a good idea, and no swimming in the icy pool.  I did however manage to read nine books and finish a tapestry I had been doing for ever!