After eight refreshing hours of sleep, I awoke to find myself  in a very comfortable bed in a beautifully decorated room. Our group’s  rooms and the indoor courtyard through which we entered them were decorated in a way that enabled us to feel very comfortable.

There were some new foods and drinks at the morning’s breakfast room. In addition to eggs prepared in different ways, there was split pea soup, which I’ve never had for breakfast before, and although it was very  different from mine, it was quite tasty.  I tried tangerine juice for the first time, and it, too, was delicious. And the cookies that were offered had been dipped in chocolate, completing a varied meal.

We met in the lobby for a tour of the medina, which is so vast that we entered completely different “districts” from the ones we had seen the day before. There were areas filled with lamps, leather goods, copper pots, wood carvings, caftans and other clothing, crockery, linens, and also fruit and vegetables.

After that, we went to Le Jardin Secret, which  originated nearly four hundred years ago. Being there in the middle  of busy Marrakesh was like being at an oasis.  We we could stroll through the garden, each of at his or her own pace,  admiring the great variety of plantings. We learned that when Covid struck and everything  in the city closed down, two agriculture specialists remained  at the garden to give the plants the care they needed to keep healthy.

On the way back, we entered a  rug shop.  Seventeen years ago in Istanbul, my cousin’s husband took us to a rug shop in the bazaar there. At that time we were seated and given tea, followed by being shown rugs in a great variety of sizes, colors and shapes.  We selected the two that we liked most, and had them shipped to our house. Here in Marrakesh, it was déjà vu, with all of the same things happening. Some of our travel companions bought rugs that would be shipped to their homes.   The element that was different in Marrakesh was that we  saw a woman  weaving a rug on a loom, and we marveled at her work.

Then Nick had an idea. He thought that since Morocco was once a French protectorate, there must be good French restaurants  in Marrakesh. He asked Hassan if this was so. Hassan responded by making a reservation for all in our group who were interested in having dinner at a French restaurant called Grande Café de la Poste, because it was housed in a building that was once a post office. All sixteen of us were interested! To get there,  we took horse-drawn carriages called calèches.

For dinner Nick and I enjoyed prosecco,  followed by  our appetizer,  escargot. Others chose a variety of  different appetizers including Caesar salad,  hummus with vegetables, and olive tapenade. Our main course was a mild white fish served with zucchini cubes, while others in our group made different selections from the menu, including steak. Dessert was a Grand Mariner soufflé.  Later, when we were asked which meal we had enjoyed the most during the trip, the universal reply was the dinner at the French restaurant.

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