Page 103 - Travel Leisure - USA (February 2020)
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for their children. “The women evolved his international sensibilities into friendly locations. There is also
from being ‘tolerated’ to earning the mix, turning the cloth into pants, a carpet store and a wonderful
regular wages and being independent jackets, shirts, and jumpsuits that shop, Verre Beldi, that sells glasses,
and proud of their expertise,” said feel gloriously soft to the touch. vases, and lamps in clear and jewel
Kahane, who is about to add a weaving tones. Leymarie bought up the last
department to the facility. The store THERE ARE OTHER must-sees in Moroccan handblown-glass factory,
sells heavenly linens, shirts, pajamas, Marrakesh, of course, like the in Casablanca, when it was going out
and children’s clothes. When I got crowded but botanically marvelous of business, and gave it a home to
home I kicked myself for not having Jardin Majorelle, which adjoins the continue production here. I took away
bought more of the hand-smocked house renovated by Yves Saint Laurent a set of stacking glasses, each with the
baby dresses to give to every little girl and his partner Pierre Bergé, site of so characteristic small irregularities of
who will enter my life in the future. many decadent fashion dreams. Inside the artisan’s hand.
We also visited Weinrib’s favorite the park is an ultra-colorful boutique For our final foray before flying
carpet emporium, Soufiane Zarib, and, next to that, the museum home, my mother and I booked a car
where the wares are grouped by dedicated to the late designer that to take us into the Atlas Mountains.
color, which helps shoppers avoid Bergé completed before his own On the road out of town, we stopped
falling into a sea of indecision. Then death in 2017. When I visited, it was at Popham Design, a factory run
we headed to an insider’s secret, hung with an immaculate show of by a pair of Americans, Caitlin and
Galerie Tindouf. I knew we were in drawings by Brice Marden, rendered Samuel Dowe-Sandes, who use
the right place when we spotted the in the colors of Marrakesh, where the Moroccan techniques to create their
French minister of culture leaving, artist also has a house. own wonderful geometric cement
just as we arrived. Tindouf has art We were running out of time, but tiles. Moving on, we passed saffron
galleries front and back—on show managed to squeeze in a few more plantations and spice gardens
was an exhibition of photographer treats—including a trip to Herboristerie as we looked for Nectarome, an
Lalla Essaydi’s glittering portraits Bab Agnaou, an unassuming spice apothecary and nursery in the
of women. The shop itself is a trove shop near the king’s palace where I Ourika Valley, a couple hours’ drive
of outstanding treasures, including bought containers filled with saffron, outside Marrakesh. It was founded
antique Berber jewelry, a passion rose petals, star anise, and orange- by a pair of Moroccan brothers and
of Weinrib’s, and an impeccable flower water. (We’d been advised their friend—one a professor, one a
selection of vintage textiles, against buying from the open-air stalls pharmacist, and the other a cosmetic
furniture, and ceramics. in the souk, since they’re exposed to formulator—with the aim of reviving
To witness the edgier side so much dust and pollution.) traditional beauty recipes.
of the design and retail scene in Afterward, we dropped in at As we headed higher and higher
Marrakesh, Weinrib and I headed to a popular lunch spot and hotel into the mountains, with their hillside
the Industrial Zone, a district on the 20 minutes out of town, the Beldi villages and breathtaking views, it
outskirts of town. Here, the streets Country Club, for some R&R. Built in became very hard to think about
have a SoHo feel—let’s say SoHo 2005 by Frenchman Jean-Dominique turning back. Never mind that we
in the 1990s—with contemporary Leymarie, it includes a greenhouse- had a plane to catch; we wanted to
art galleries, furniture stores, like restaurant set in a garden filled continue, discover more, see what was
perfumeries, and small factories. with birdsong, as well as a cluster of around the coming bend and beyond
From one of these, American expat boutiques that offer a reprieve from the next rise. It felt like a beginning,
and former fashion photographer the hassle and haggle of the souk. not an ending.
Randall Bachner runs Marrakshi Some are the usual suspects, like It was consolation, however, when
Life, where workers weave cotton on Chabi Chic and Corinne Bensimon— we found Nectarome, to walk among
looms in the back of the airy, high- the sorts of clever, European-owned its fragrant beds of aromatic plants and
ceilinged space. Bachner then brings brands that tend to pop up in tourist- browse the selection of soaps, oils,
and scents in its small shop, where I
stocked up on argan oil. Like learning
Content in this issue was produced with assistance from Cobblers Cove; Destination about the origins of the carpets we
Wairarapa; ECO Luxury + Lodge; Eden Rock–St. Barths; El Fenn; GoldenEye; Half Moon; step on, the experience connected us
Inn at the Presidio; Jekyll Club Resort; Jekyll Ocean Club; Parilio; Royal Mansour; to nature and production in ways we
Silversea Cruises; Star Castle; Visit Barbados; Visit Isles of Scilly; and Visit Ruapehu. had long forgotten, and offered a little
treasure to take home.
T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E . C O M 101
