Finally Marrakech!!

We drove from Essaouira to Marrakech.... with a stop at an Argan Woman's Co-operative.....

.. the hard work involved was being demonstrated...... they said that  the mechanical presses provide an inferior product! However it would seem as though they do use them.....

 ..... obviously we ended up buying argan products.  It will be interesting to see if the facial rejuvenation cream does drop 10 years off and how soon it will kick in!!

Then we happened upon  goats in the argan trees.......apparently enterprising local farmers bring them to the trees to earn some money from passing tourists!

Finally we arrived at our riad.. the Dix Neuf...
As we were too early to check in to our rooms we just left our luggage and went for lunch at Dar Cherifa a very old building which has been renovated.  Lunch was good......but inevitably we did have tajine!
It was quite difficult to find......lots of very tight unmarked passageways......

Then we went exploring.......through the souks and amazingly did not get lost!.......
We had decided to make our way to the Musee de Marrakech...

but got a little distracted en route.......by this fabulous herb store...

When we finally got inside the museum it lacked color!

After our visit we consulted our map and worked out a route through the souks...
stopping for a drink at the Cafe des Epices... who are kind enough to leave hats around the place for their guests to use!

It overlooks the Spices square...

......where again one experiences an assault of color!

Then back to the riad to actually check in and see our rooms.......they were great!

..... a room with a view....

... the riad itself was also great!
..  the entry area...

... the rooftop view towards the Koutoubia Mosque..

We can absolutely recommend a stay in this riad....
It was designed by KO Studio architects.... who have just completed the Yves St. Laurent Museum in Marrakech.

 Unfortunately we were there just prior to its opening date...

Dinner on our first evening had been booked at Latitude 31...... this seemed a reasonable walk from the riad without too many places to get lost! Wrong! We did end up asking for help from some guards in front of a special building.....which we later found out was Dar el Bacha, a palace which had belonged to the Pasha El Glaoui and is still used by the royal family, therefore closed to the public.....

We were very happy to finally get to the restaurant, again well hidden.... and the food was great!

Essaouira, Morocco

Essaouira was totally different from the parts of Morocco previously visited..... particularly in terms of daytime temperature! It was 35 degrees C plus in the rest of the country.... and it dropped to a comfortable 25 degrees C here! It was also overcast...we didn't care! It was pleasant!
Our first morning in the Madada Mogador was great...
We loved our rooms......
and breakfast served on a roof terrace overlooking the Atlantic was great......

The view was superb, even if foggy.......and so also was the breakfast.....

We set out to explore the Medina......

no hassling, pleasant! It was also easy to find our way around... it was not like the 14th century Fez medina....we only briefly needed to consult our map.....

Then down to the port......to see their famous blue boats.......

Definitely a working port!

We decided to avoid the tourist fish stands........we had been told that #14 was the best..... however here we were definitely hassled....

We opted for  a light lunch overlooking the beach..... the Chalet de la Plage.....

...with a view of a fairly empty beach...

Having enjoyed our Hammam and massage experience in Fez... we decided to try it once again! We went to a place close to where we were staying and recommended by them ... SpaCocooning ........ and it was great and totally different. Instead of standing and having buckets of water thrown over us we were able to lie down..... and still have water thrown over us!
However the massage was great!

Had the Madada's restaurant been open we would have definitely returned! We were there on a Tuesday night which seems to be when all the better restaurant's have their day off!  Sadly as it was not open we went to Chez Sams....

  ......... the starter was very tasty...

....the fish was definitely fresh .....

but it was not at all the same type of meal or ambience..... and the difference in price was not that great!!!
We could have had fish tajine...but declined!

Over the Tizi-N-Tichka pass to Essaouira...

The pass was very dramatic...... particularly as there was ongoing road works, and so the going was slow!

It was even  difficult for vehicles in two lanes (one either way!) to pass each other..... particularly when large!

The soil was very red in parts....

....with small villages in the less steep parts....

 But going over the pass was for the most part dramatic.....thankfully we were not going by when this happened!

At the top finally.......

 Amazingly we saw sheep... ... trying to find something to eat in a barren land........

We were happy to finally arrive in Essaouira..... where we were booked into the Madada Mogador. riad..... they have one of the best restaurants in town.....

.......where we had a superb meal....... definitely not tajine!!

As we had had a long day on the road we didn't feel there was any risk having coffee late at night!