Our last stop in Morocco...Rabat

The drive from Marrakech to Rabat takes about 3 to 4 hours.....and is motorway essentially all the way!
We arrived in time for lunch ... we had booked in to Ty Potes...  a Bretagne restaurant in the French area of the city.

Lunch was what we wanted.....light fare and in a nice garden.... opposite the Institut Francais and the St Pierre Catholic Cathedral....
Then on to seeing the sights of Rabat....

first ....Chellah......

it has Roman ruins ... abandoned in the 4th century... and only discovered in recent years.....

We noticed the stork's nest on the 13th century minaret... we had seen quite a few going around Morocco.....

....then realized there was quite a family there!

On the the Hussan tower, built around 1196.....all that's left of the mosque which was supposed to rival the Mosque of Cordoba when building started... it didn't get completed ........ and the earthquake of 1755 essentially demolished what was left....

The tower and the remains of the prayer hall....

......then to the Mausoleum of Mohammed V....... open to non Muslims.....

 Prior to going to our road in the Medina we had to check out the Oudaia Kasbah.......

The Andalusian gardens were nice....with lots of cats...revered by Muslims!

the view from the ramparts was great..... fishing boats on one side...

surfers on the other.....

finally into the Medina...

 to find our riad....the Kalaa...

..this gets a very high rating on Trip advisor, however most people reviewing were staying there on their first night in Morocco. It was our last! The riad was OK but we did not find the people there to be overly friendly and the service at both dinner and breakfast was very slow and totally inefficient!

a visit to the Majorelle garden, Marrakech

After a tiring but very interesting morning walking around Marrakech we were driven to our choice of restaurant for lunch .....

...the Grand Cafe de la Poste. This has been there since the 1920's as a Cafe, then was turned into a cafe/restaurant/hotel  by the Pasha Glaoui and was frequented by expats.....

We had a fantastic lunch... and best vin gris yet!
The restaurant was renovated by KO Studio architects, who did the riad we were staying in and the new Yves St Laurent museum   They obviously have been busy in Morocco!

After our lunch we were taken to the Majorelle garden, which was absolutely fascinating......

The garden was bought by Yves St Laurent and Pierre Bergee in the 80's to stop it being developed as a hotel.....
and they also bought Jacques Majorelle's villa which they aptly named Villa Oasis....

The garden is definitely an oasis in the middle of a frenetic city.....

We visited Jemaa el Fna square after dark to see what happens there.....

..some dancing......

..some music...

...some fishing!

... and lots of people......

 We decided to stay in for dinner in the riad......ambience great...food just so so!

Seeing the sights in Marrakech...

After an early breakfast at the riad...

we were picked up by our tour guide and taken to see the main tourist attractions.....
First on the list was the exterior of the Koutoubia Mosque... no entry to non Muslims..

..then on to the Saadian tombs.....

the important people were buried inside.....the less important ones outside!

Next on to the  Bahia Palace....... one part of which had been to house concubines....

with its beautiful ceilings...

... and beautiful doors...

 the intricate wall decoration was absolutely splendid.....

Immediately outside the Palace gates was a totally different world!

we did a quick visit to the Carpet souk... where almost every morning the people who make the carpets come in and the carpets are auctioned off on the floor..... and in the past this used to be the slave market!

after that  we walked to the Ben Youssef Medersa  .......

Our guide, having now ticked off his list of things to show us, allowed us to walk through the souks at a more leisurely pace...
We spent some time in the Dyers Souk... very colorful!

 ending up in Jemma-el-Fna square....

I was not tempted!! However a stop for lunch was definitely needed........