The Yves Saint Laurent Connection

With only the morning to spend in Marrakech before our afternoon flight we decided to visit the Majorellle Gardens. We headed out with lowish expectations as an earlier expedition to the supposedly splendid Menara Gardens turned out to be a visit to some gardens that are now just a shadow of their previous glory.  However the Majorelle Gardens did not disappoint, and these gardens turned out to be an oasis in the bustling city.  Tom claimed that he had carefully planned these visits, saving the best for last and building up our expectations slowly.

Lily pads in the Majorelle Garden

The gardens are the work of the early twenty century painter after which they are named.  He opened them to the public in 1947 and in the 1980's the property was purchased by Yves Saint Laurent, hence the link to YSL. Saint Laurent was born in Algeria to French parents and retained a connection to north Africa throughout his life.  He restored the property and gardens and spent much time there finding solace and inspiration.  Before his death YSL established a trust with the aim of preserving cultural heritage and this trust runs the gardens today and the museum displaying Berber culture which is open in the gardens.  YSL's ashes are spread in the garden where I noticed the French tourists in particular are very respectful at the memorial. I paid suitable homage.

The YSL Memorial

Berbers

The Berbers are the original inhabitants of the north Africa area and the museum informed us that the Berbers were democratic, yet warmongering.  The Berbers have mixed with the Arabs since the Arabs arrived in this part of the world, and have been both Jewish and then later Muslims. They are found mostly in the Atlas Mountains, the divide that runs north to south down the middle of Morocco, and the Sahara desert is found east beyond the range.  

The Berber Museum in the garden

Every encounter is an opportunity

The Moroccans maximise the opportunity to earn a quid. Take the taxi driver today who agreed to our one stop fare, but then began adding sights he could take us to (including a good shop) and then refused our fare when we would not agree.

Modernisation has helped created wealth but it is still a desperately poor country, with young children on the streets selling anything, tissues, water, and cigarettes, which can be purchased by the single cigarette - in a poor country that is probably all some people can afford.  It is very tempting to purchase from the small children, but to do so only encourages the practice and the ongoing temptation to take them out of school to earn.

My venture into a jewellery stall started out innocently enough with the standard 'where are you from', and the stall holder began telling us of his Berber origins and his village in the mountains.  We showed genuine interest as he launched into his spiel and began showing us a coffee table book with panoramic photographs of the Atlases. As our interest peeked he launched with his punch line, and I do tours to my village madam.  But he was harmless, and extremely charming - so what could I do but purchase the torquise necklace I had been admiring.  Really, it would have been rude not to.