Yves You Build It, They Will Come

In contrast to our museum- and city-heavy adventures yesterday, today was very green. We began at the Jardin Majorelle, an incredible garden named after the painter Jacques Majorelle. 

He moved to Morocco, bought this land (~1920), built a beautiful (public) garden, and lived there until his untimely death in a car accident. The beautiful gardens fell into a state of disrepair and were on the brink of demolition when the famous French designer Yves Saint Laurent and his partner Paul Berge bought the place in 1980. They hired a Moroccan botanist who created an inspired vision for the gardens, which boast plants from around the world harmoniously coexisting in a beautiful oasis. 

The fountains and buildings are mostly painted a brilliant shade of royal blue, now called Majorelle blue. 

Both YSL and Paul Berge passed away over the last 2 decades, 

The memorial for YSL and Paul Berge within the Jardin Majorelle

and the Jardin Majorelle is managed by their foundation. Today, this beautiful, peaceful place has over 800,000 people a year.

While YSL and Paul Berge lived in Morocco, they fell in love with the Berber culture and art and built a museum to honor a people they felt remained “undiscovered”. From Ahmed, we learned that the name “Berber” comes from the word “barbarian”, and that Berbers prefer the term Amazigh, which means free people. The museum contains items of everyday life (cool keys, slippers, bags) 

The one picture I took before I learned pictures weren't allowed in the museum

as well as large pots for making and cooking couscous (the whole process takes two whole hours) and, of course, some Berber fashion. It came as no surprise that a museum built by a famed fashion designer would glorify Berber couture. A room kept in darkness with twinkling, star-like lights above reflected in 360-degree mirrored walls was filled with glass cases of elaborate Berber jewelry. Berber women traditionally wear cloth wrapped around them and pinned in place. These pins are at either end of a chain that can be quite elaborately decorated. Married women wear the two ends pinned to either side of their chest (picture one pinned between below the collarbone on each side, creating a necklace-like effect), while single ladies wear only the righthand side pinned. Some of these pin-chains were enormous, with a giant silver triangle measuring about 5-6 inches on a side attached to each pin and colorful stones worked into the design. And this was just one component of the outfit; there were also headdresses and earrings and layers of actual necklaces. Berber women also had a bunch of Wonder Woman-style wrist cuffs and some things that looked like brass knuckles, which Ahmed (perhaps jokingly?) said could be used for defense. The next room (with normal lighting) was filled with beautiful woven clothing from the Berber tribes in different regions. They looked incredible warm and cozy and I am very inspired for my future wardrobe (which will apparently consist of well-wrapped blankets).

Since it was the morning of all things YSL, we went to the next-door museum honoring the fashion designer. We first stopped in the temporary exhibit, which showcased pieces by the Moroccan designer Noureddine Amir. His nature-inspired pieces were suspended from the ceiling, again in a dark room with mirrors for walls. 

My poor mother was having such trouble figuring out what was a path and what was a mirror that we had to go rescue her and guide her through. We asked the staff and they said people walk full force into the walls all the time. In case haven’t mentioned this, safety seems to be a lower priority here sometimes. We continued on to the exhibit of YSL’s own work, which included a wall of iconic photographs, news clippings, sketches, magazine covers – everything. Around a bend, a vast room was lined with impeccably dressed mannequins showcasing his designs from over the years. Knowing pretty much nothing about fashion, I learned that one of his innovations was designing a tuxedo for women and that another was creating collections honoring famous French painters including Matisse, Picasso, and Braque. I also learned that YSL started out working for Dior and was named as the head of the fashion house after the Dior passed away. He got drafted to serve in the French Army during the Algerian War of Independence and had a nervous breakdown, at which time he was fired by Dior. His big comeback was starting his own fashion house, which seems to have been a smash hit from the start. Whatever the industry, you’ve got to admire a comeback like that.

After departing the museum, we drove around La Palmeraie, a giant park filled with date palm trees. Entrepreneurial locals had gaggles of camels (including baby camels nursing!) ready to be rented to tourists for rides around the park. We learned from Ahmed that date palms are protected in Marrakech and that it can cost up to 10,000 dirham (a bit over $1,000) to move one. As a result, new houses that are built on land with palm trees are often planned around the existing trees to avoid these fines. We continued our drive around the city, seeing the beautiful theater and train station and generally appreciating this gorgeous cosmopolitan city.

When we at last alighted near our hotel, it was to walk over to our cooking class. We sat with eight other tourists, most of whom were from Europe, and were instructed about the most common spices used and how to properly make Moroccan mint tea. We then trekked upstairs to the giant kitchen, where we each had a station with a screen broadcasting the teacher’s every move. 

We dutifully chopped, peeled, minced, and mixed our way through a chicken and lemon tagine, a smoky eggplant dish, and a green pepper and tomato cooked salad. The instructor also demonstrated how to make bread and had several of our classmates up to practice kneading bread the Moroccan way. After we had turned off our last (very hot) burners and curled our tomato peels into little roses, we trekked downstairs to enjoy our creations. They were fantastic! 

We were clearly born to be Moroccan chefs. We enjoyed a long dinner with our classmates-turned-friends, talking about a wide range of topics from knitting to high-tech start-up investment to professional horseback riding. At long last, we had finished all of our courses and it was time to leave. Stuffed (as usual) we waddled back to the hotel for some well-deserved rest.

Spotted 1: donkeys! So cute and so ubiquitous in Marrakech.

Spotted 2: libitibito! Pronounced libby-tibby-too, this is the Berber version of "cheers!"

Additional photos from our day:

Excitement over finding a giant jade plant

We found out what euphorbia looks like! (You know, the plant that, when its pollen is collected by bees, makes honey that leaves a delicious burn in your throat, mentioned in a previous post.)

YSL used to design a greeting card, which usually said "Love" somewhere on it, and send it out to friends, family, and clients during the holidays each year. Nice idea, right? Here is a small snapshot of some of them.