Our last day!  Hard to believe the three week tour has come to an end — and we all survived!

This morning, we spent a couple of hours in the Habous area visiting the olive market and souks for painting (and a bit of last minute shopping).

Then it was off to the Hassan II Mosque — the third largest in the world after the two in Saudi Arabia and the one with the world’s highest minaret.

This is the only Moroccan mosque non-Muslims are allowed to enter so we took advantage of the midday English language tour.  Pam and I had been before but it’s worth a second visit.  Such magnificence and all built in six years!

A group photo afterwards before heading back to Rick’s Café for a delightful lunch, a magic show from our painter/magician, Chris, and then a review with Ev of a representative selection of our artists’ work from the last three weeks: Tangier, Chefchauen, Fès, the Sahara desert, Skoura, Marrakech and Essaouira.

And then it was time for goodbyes.  Most of us are leaving Casablanca tomorrow, Sunday, with a few staying on for a couple of extra nights.

A wonderful opportunity to experience the real Morocco — the medinas, the mountains, the souks, the desert and the ocean.  And of course the people.  It’s a very seductive country.

I’ve enjoyed writing the daily blog and Pam and I are already planning our next visit in 2020.

A big thanks to our tutor and friend, Ev Hales, without whom the tour would not have been possible.  Such an inspiring mentor and motivator and a great painting group for her to work with.

Farewell for now.

An early getaway from Essaouira and our lovely Perle d’Eau riad with a big thanks to Ernest and his team for serving breakfast on the rain swept terrace at 7.30 am.  Can never tire of that view of the crashing waves over the rocks with the sun beginning to glint shades of pink on the clouds.

Then onto the bus for a long drive to Casablanca.  Not too bad really as we were able to join the motorway (almost zero traffic), so made good time to El Jadida, an old Portuguese fortress (15th century), where we stopped for lunch and a visit to the underground cistern.

And a walk along the ramparts.

Our bus journey for the last 90 km was a merry affair.  Heavy rain played havoc with the air conditioning system resulting in water falling on those in the front row.  Majid managed a stop-gap fix, which worked until we made any sharp turns or spun through a roundabout.

Into the Melliber hotel — our first western style hotel, nice and functional, apart from some missing towels, but none of the character of the riads we’ve enjoyed elsewhere on the tour.

Dinner was at Rick’s Café, created by our dear friend Kathy Kriger, who sadly passed away suddenly in August.  A bittersweet reunion for Pam and me with Issam and his team but so lovely to be back at what has justafiably become a Casablanca icon.

The legend continues…

Two days in one tonight to cover our full days in the seaside city of Essaouira. Such a beautiful place with the pounding waves just outside our riad walls.

Yesterday, Wednesday, began with painting from the roof terrace and continued after lunch down by the port among the fishing boats.

Then last night it was all singing and dancing at Caravane Café where we enjoyed great food, live music, a magician, a fire dancer and later Latino dancing for all our ladies.

We didn’t get to bed until close to midnight, hence no blog submission last night.

Today, Thursday, began with painting at the wharf where the boats had just come in with their loads of fresh fish.

The non-painters visited the Val d’Argan winery, about 20 km away, for a desgustation lunch, while the painters had more time to enjoy painting from the roof terrace and by the sea.

Dinner tonight was at Silvestro, an Italian restaurant in the Essaouira medina — a change from Moroccan food for our second last evening together on our tour.

Casablanca tomorrow.

Not a lot to report today.  We spent the morning in and around our riad in Marrakech, with a critique session from Ev on the terrace followed by opportunities to finish incomplete works or wander around the medina, which we are now experts at navigating.

After lunch, it was onto our faithful bus for the journey down the highway to Essaouira, on the Atlantic Ocean, passing argan tree plantations en route, but sadly no goats in the trees (the Tourist Board obviously were on a day off!).

Our riads (we have to split the group for the first time) are right on the sea front in the old medina.  The surf was up and at full tide the waves are crashing into the walls below.

Some of us took a walk along a 500 metre long street full of shops of every kind, including some art galleries, to the port to see the boats, sea gulls, fish for sale and the sunset.

The white bit immediately below the sun in the pic above is a wave crashing onto the rocks.  I was pretty impressed with myself for capturing the exact moment!

A sumptuous meal tonight at the Riad Perle d’Eau, with fish as the main course.  Tomorrow begins two full days of painting in this old seaside village.  Such a different feel to the place after Marrakech.  

Our second full day in Marrakech — this morning painting from the roof terrace of a restaurant in the Place des Épices (spice market).

Ev gave the troops a pep talk en route:

And then we settled into our painting spots on the terrace, overlooking the market — not just spices as you can see.

After a surprisingly good snack lunch, we split into two groups — the shoppers and the historians.  The latter group walked much further (about 4 km) while the former boosted the Marrakech economy.

Our historian group were given a lot of information about the medina and its origins and customs.  Apparently the labyrinth of winding streets was created on purpose and not from expansion of the medina.  It helps with keeping things cool in the summer and warmer in winter.

We also saw the wood souk, the lantern souk (above), the metal work souk, the leather souk, and the wool dying souk where the colours were just so vibrant I had to snap a pic or two.

Tonight dinner is at the Le Comptoir du Pacha, a short walk from our riad.  Then Essaouira tomorrow afternoon, the second last stop on our Evocative Morocco journey.

A full day in Marrakech today — four different locations and almost 7km walked.  The morning was at Yves St Laurent’s gorgeous Jardin Majorelle.

Despite having half of China with us, we managed to find a quiet spot for Ev to demo and then our group dispersed to paint some of the wonderful colours, cacti, palms and buildings before a visit to the Berber Museum and lunch.

         This is Jan, perched on a rail and not quite falling into the lilly pond!

Our next stop was a visit to the Bahia Palace, home to one of Marrakech’s governors way back when.  Full of extraordinary carved ceilings, mosaics and tiles.

Most of us then went on to Dar Si Saïd, a short walk away for more stunning architecture and a display of Moroccan carpets that was breathtaking.

Finally it was into our trusty bus and off to Jamaa  el Fna, or La Place as the locals call it — the emblematic square of Marrakech full of food stalls, snake  charmers, false teeth sellers, souks and restaurants.

We found a roof top terrace from where Ev could demo and our artists capture the scenes below while we sipped delicious virgin mojitos and later snacked on some Moroccan-Italian food for an early supper.

A sunset walk through the crowds before being returned to our riad.  More in Marrakech tomorrow.

How’s this for a location for breakfast?  Before that, some of our group began the day early at Kasbah Ellouze by watching traditional bread making behind our riad in Tamedaght.

For respect, we’re not showing the lovely local ladies making the bread, but their efforts were enjoyed later on the bus when we all tore off strips of hot, freshly baked bread.  It’s absolutely the staple in the Moroccan diet and served flat and round with every meal even in the humblest of restaurants.

Although only 150 km away, the trip to Marrakech took most of our Saturday.  We stopped a few times for photo ops as we drove through the dramatic High Atlas Mountains, at heights over 2000 metres.

Lunch was at a Women’s Cooperative where we first watched how argan oil is made by grinding the kernels.  It takes 100 kg of nuts to produce one litre of oil, so no wonder it’s not cheap.

They are building a new highway linking Marrakech to Ouarzazate but it’s still very much under construction, which made our trip long but shall we say, very interesting to watch the local driving habits.

Majid was brilliant although he did wind down the window to yell a few choice words in Arabic to some of the more idiotic over-takers (“zen-zen” apparently means “crazy” and those of you who know Japanese know the expression as well and I guess it could mean “zen-zen no sense.”

We finally made it to our home for the next three night: Riad Ambre et Épices.

And before dinner on the roof terrace, we had time, over drinks, for Ev to critique the last few days’ work.

A serious day of painting ahead tomorrow.

Had to start today’s blog with these pics of beautiful Moroccan lanterns in the Riad Madu and in the Sahara desert, taken a few days ago.

Now we are in a little village, 6 km north of the UNESCO World Heritage site of Aït Benhaddou, location for many a movie, such as Lawrence of Arabia, Gladiator and more recently Game of Thrones. 

We left Les Jardins de Skoura this morning for a scary ride through a dry river bed before rejoining the highway to Ouarzazate and eventually to our riad in Tamedaght.

Pam and I have stayed at Kasbah Ellouze before and love the place.  Surrounded by pisé (mud brick and straw) buildings, it overlooks an oasis of palm trees and the most stunning bare mountains.  It also helps that we have a clear, pollution free, blue sky as well as the hospitality of French couple Michel and Colette who own and run the riad.

The artists got to work after lunch while the others walked and enjoyed the sunshine around the pool.

Settling in now for a gin & tonic on the terrace while the evening call to prayer streams from the nearby mosque.  Peace!

Marrakech tomorrow and a change of pace.

We’re back on track with the blogs.  This is Day 13 and it actually is Day 13 — Thursday, October 11 — and we spent the whole day at the beautiful Les Jardins de Skoura.

The weather was idyllic and our painters took the opportunity to create some masterpieces in the gardens and from the roof terraces of this gem of a riad.

While a few of our group took a guided four-hour walking tour of Skoura, others swam in the beautiful pool and painted pomegranate trees.

A truly beautiful place.  I could stay here for  week — just for the peace and tranquillity of the architecture, the gardens, the flowers, the pomegranate trees, the donkeys in their pens, the gentle, smiling peope, the extremely calming call to prayer echoing though the palmerie.

It’s Morocco.  A seductive country.

Can’t end tonight’s post without one more desert and camel shot.

And now we are up to date.  On to Kasbah Ellouze tomorrow.

I’ve been able to upload some photos from Day Eleven, so I’ll go back to Tuesday when we were still at the Riad Madu in Merzouga in the morning and then at the desert camp for the afternoon and evening.

Such a beautiful location for our riad, right on the edge of the desert with views across to the dunes that Ev just had to find a quiet place to capture in watercolour.

The group assembled after breakfast for a morning of painting around the pool followed by a critique session with Ev before lunch.

Before we move on, I just have to share a pic from the night before of one of the gorgeous Moroccan lanterns in the dining room:

Now for the camp.  As mentioned in last night’s blog post, we had everything — sun, wind and rain — but it didn’t stop our group.  Here are a few pics from our afternoon and evening in the Sahara, including 10 of the group who opted for a camel ride at sunset.

Some of us enjoyed a glass of wine outside their tents…

…while watching the setting sun. (Algeria, by the way, was just 10 km away over those dunes!)

Now for the real report of Day Twelve, which took us from the Sahara via Rissani (ancestral home to the King) and the mud brick village of Tinejdad, where we lunched, to the Todra Gorge.  First a stop to survey the scene:

And then a walk along the river and the gorge that is one of Morocco’s many natural wonders.

So here we are now in Skoura at the Les Jardins de Skoura riad, owned and run by the delightful Mme Caroline.  More on the riad in Day Thirteen’s blog.