In October 2018, we will be leading a group of watercolour artists on a three-week tour of magical Morocco, with Ev Hales again as our tutor.
The tour will begin in the northern city of Tangier on September 30 and end in Casablanca on October 21. Tangier, site of many a wartime spy drama, and just a short ferry ride from Spain, will be our base for three nights, staying in a riad (hotel) right in the medina.
From Tangier, we will visit the beach resort of Asilah on a day trip before travelling along the Mediterranean coastline and then inland for two nights in the fabled blue city of Chefchaouen.
Chefchaouen
We next head to Fès for three nights in this wonderful city famous for its labyrinthine 1000 year old medina as well as great food. While in Fès, we will take a day trip to the nearby town of Moulay Idriss, named for the 9th century great-grandson of the Prophet who brought Islam to Morocco. We’ll lunch here at Scorpion House for painting, a meal and hospitality you won’t soon forget.
Fès gateway
Leaving Fès, we will travel an hour into the Middle Atlas Mountains for a night in Azrou, home to cedar forests and the Barbary monkeys.
It will be Monday, October 8 and the start of our second week in Morocco when we head south via the Ziz Gorges and date palm valleys to Merzouga, in the Erg Chebbi sand dunes of the Sahara Desert, where a fabulous kasbah with a pool and roof terrace will be our base for tonight. The next afternoon a camel ride will take us to the desert for a night in luxury tents (complete with en suite facilities) to enjoy both the stunning sunset over the dunes and the sunrise.
Erg Chebbi
From Merzouga, we head via the Dades Valley and gorges to the town of Skoura where a traditional riad will be our home for two nights and wonderful opportunities for painting.
Dades Valley
On Friday, October 12, we head a short distance to Aït Benhaddou, location of the movie studios for epics such as Lawrence of Arabia, Gladiator and, more recently, Game of Thrones. We’ll be based at Kasbah Ellouze, one of our favourite riads in Morocco.
Kasbah Ellouze, Aït Benhaddou
Saturday, October 13, and the start of our final week in Morocco, will see us heading over the 2200 metre high Atlas Mountains to Marrakech where we will be based in a riad in the medina for three nights. We’ll be painting in the Majorelle Gardens, home to the late Yves St Laurent and his partner, Pierre Bergé, as well as in the Jemaa el-Fnaa square and the spice markets.
Place Jemma el-Fnaa
As we near the end of our Moroccan adventure, we will spend the final tour days by the beach at Essaouira, fast becoming Morocco’s art colony, with its sandy beaches, fishing boats and seafront ramparts.
Camels on the beach at Essaouira
After two nights there, we make the trek along a coastal motorway, stopping for a night at the old Portuguese fort town of El Jadida.
In the afternoon of October 19 we will head to bustling Casablanca, Morocco’s commercial capital. During our two nights here, we’ll have time here for shopping, sightseeing, painting in the Habous olive market and a visit to the breathtaking Hassan II Mosque, the world’s third largest, and the only one in Morocco open to non-Muslims.
After a show-and-tell review of everyone’s artistic masterpieces, we will end our tour with dinner at Rick’s Café, owned by our good friend Kathy Kriger, where you can overdose on Casablanca movie memorabilia while enjoying fine food and music from general manager Issam (his real name!), who will surely play As Time Goes By.
THIS TOUR IS NOW FULLY BOOKED.
June 2018