Today, we explored Marrakech, visiting places in and around the medina, but we started the day at the Jardin Majorelle and Yves Saint Laurent Memoriam.
Exploring Marrakech.
We woke up around 7 am this morning, and after a shower, we went into the courtyard of our Riad for breakfast. Once we had eaten breakfast, we got a taxi to take us to the Jardin Majorelle and Yves Saint Laurent Memoriam. It wasn't a long way away, but we didn't want to be late for our entry period, and we would have been if we had got lost in the medina.
Jardin Majorelle and Yves Saint Laurent Memoriam.
About the Majorelle Garden.
The Majorelle Garden is a two-acre botanical garden and artist's landscape garden. It was created by the French Orientalist artist Jacques Majorelle over almost forty years, starting in 1923, and features a Cubist villa designed by French architect Paul Sinoir in the 1930s. The property was the residence of the artist and his wife from 1923 until their divorce in the 1950s.
In the 1980s, the property was purchased by the fashion designers Yves Saint-Laurent and Pierre Bergé, who worked to restore it. Today, the garden and villa complex is open to the public.
Our visit to the Jardin Majorelle and Yves Saint Laurent Memoriam.
We had already purchased tickets to the Jardin Majorelle and Yves Saint Laurent Memoriam. I knew that the official website was the only place you could buy them and that they limited entry to the gardens to a limited number of people per hour while it was open. The gardens opened at 8 am, and I had got tickets to enter at 8:30 am. The taxi driver dropped us off at the end of the street from the entrance, and we walked a short distance to the entrance. I showed the security people at the gate our ticket, and we entered the gardens at about 8:30 am. I was surprised by how many security people were at the entrance and walking around the garden. Still, they were accommodating, pointing us in the right direction as we explored the gardens and memoriam.
I loved the gardens and would love a big property with enough land to build something similar. I wasn't a fan of the artwork in the Yves Saint Laurent museum. It looked like something a kid would do, but Lisa seemed to like it.
Photos from the Jardin Majorelle and Yves Saint Laurent Memoriam.
Visiting the Marrakech medina.
What is a medina?
A medina is a historical district in many North African cities, often corresponding to an old walled city. The term comes from the Arabic word meaning "city" or "town."
Exploring the Marrakech medina.
When we left the Jardin Majorelle, we looked on Google to see the general direction of the medina and started walking towards it. We walked past many horse-drawn carriages parked up in a layby alongside the main road, and many drivers offered to take us to every place in the medina for a fee. We declined their offers and continued walking towards the medina. We soon crossed the main road from the medina, and seeing what we thought was a large market, we walked towards it. As we walked in, we realised it was not a market but a large car park for taxi drivers. All the taxis were lined up under cover, and as soon as we walked in, we were asked if we wanted a ride. We again declined the offers and walked out in the direction of the medina walls, which we could see.
We soon walked through the walls and into the medina's narrow streets. We stopped at a cafe on the side of the road to have mint tea and share a Moroccan biscuit. We sat chatting for a while, and once we had finished, we walked through the narrow alleys towards the centre of the medina. We walked through many different souks as we explored deeper into the Medina. Some sold clothing, others tin items, others food, and many sold tourist tat. We continued to explore and eventually stopped at a Craftswoman Centre to get something to eat.
The courtyard was lovely and very tranquil, and we sat down and looked through a menu. We both decided to have a tagine and thought we would try two different ones so we could try both. Unfortunately, they were no longer available. When I looked at the time, it was 7:30 pm, so we ordered different food. I had a panini, and Lisa had some couscous. The food was very nice, and after resting for a while, we continued exploring.
We walked through more of the medina but had trouble finding where we were. We eventually came out on a main road from which we could see the Kutubiyya Mosque. The Kutubiyya Mosque is the largest in Marrakesh. It is located in the southwest medina quarter of Marrakesh, near the Jemaa el-Fnaa souks, and is flanked by extensive gardens.
The mosque was founded in 1147 by the Almohad caliph Abd al-Mu'min right after he conquered Marrakesh from the Almoravids. A second version of the mosque was entirely rebuilt by Abd al-Mu'min around 1158, with Ya'qub al-Mansur possibly finalizing the construction of the minaret around 1195. This second mosque is the structure that stands today.
We sat outside a small cafe called Bistro Laksour. By now, my legs were aching and very swollen. I had to sit down to rest my legs, and we sat there for quite a while, watching the world pass us by. There was a car parked opposite us with a gap between it and the car in front of it just large enough to get another car in. While we watched, we saw at least three other cars reverse into the gap, hitting the cars already there every time. Nobody seemed to care, and the cars left without looking at or leaving a note on the car they hit. It was a lovely cafe, and we decided that if we could find it again, we would come again.
We left around 9 pm and continued through the medina, eventually finding our way back to the Riad and falling asleep within minutes of getting back.