My Marrakesh

Marrakech: and a tale of a Hollywood/Bollywood party to remember. Part 1

I had met them accidentally.  French, charming, stylish...the kind of people you want to know. That was months ago and there had been meet ups since then, including a dinner in the embroidered tent at Peacock Pavilions, Geraldine's Moroccan pique-nique chic  and a soiree at designer Corinne Bensimon's house.

It was during one of those get togethers that I had heard about it.  The party.  Oh, it was to be a party unlike other parties -- a Hollywood/Bollywood extravaganza.  David was turning 40 and it was their 10th wedding anniversary, too.  Friends were flying in from everywhere to celebrate. 

I was in Egypt on assignment but told my travel agent to make sure I would be back in time.  I didn't want to miss it, you see. 

And so this is the tale of that night, that unforgettable night.

*

To start, I dressed for trouble.  I was assuming there would some of that.  And I was right. 

When we arrived, the party was already in full swing. A red carpet runway had been set up in the garden.  This was the very first thing that I saw ....

 
 That was followed by this.

oh. my. Seeing me wide-eyed, this handsome fellow asked if a gin and tonic would be in order.  

 
And so I sipped.  And side-by-side with this beauty..........

 
I watched........as go go girls mixed wiith turbaned princes. 

 
 
All lit by Moroccan lantern light.......

 
everybody looked, well, amazing, if a little, ummm.....

crazy (in the best possible way, of course....)

 
 And then the whole party moved to an entirely different location.  And it all became yet more fantastical.  But that's another tale for another day.

To be continued.

Cairo, Egypt: and a tale of a return to the source

They looked at me, as I was explaining about myself.  About my mother of Iranian origins, about my father of French origins, about being American but living in Morocco.  And it was then that I told them that I was born in Cairo.  And they smiled. 

And they said that everyone knows that the Nile is the source.  And one always returns to the source. 

This week I'm on assignment back at the source.

Image by Denya7

Marrakech's Peacock Pavilions guesthouse: and a decorating tale of a Morocan caftan

Oh, I could have bought it in taupe or khaki or a discreet grey.  Oh I could have bought it in ivory, or beige, or a pale yellow. 

But I didn't. 

I bought it in hot pink and I pinned it to the wall.  Because  I dream in color.

Vintage Moroccan silk caftan, trim and buttona made by hand.

Orange patterns (peaked baskets from Rwanda).

 
Crowned with a yellow hand beaded and hand emboidered element of an old Moroccan Fantasia leather saddle.

  75 year old multi-hued hand appliqued Turkish pennant, handmade glazed Moroccan chevron tile table, white linen and vintage yellow silk sari shades.

In The Room of the Sufi Seamstress at  Peacock Pavilions in Marrakech  For rent.  Color-lovers especially welcome.

To be cont.

Marrakech: and a tale of a chandelier

I grew up with things that were ethnic, I grew up with things that were tribal, I grew up with things that made people furrow their brows.  There were hookahs from Iran, there were breastplates from Kenya, there were crosses from Ethiopia.  It was a strange and curious house filled with strange and curious things.

Those sorts of things fill my own home today.  I seek them out, I covet them, I collect them.  But sometimes I want things that are different.  Glamorous things.  Things that sparkle and catch the light. 

I bought one of those things recently.

 

 

 
 

Italian, 60+ years old, found in the Marrakech souks (where else?).  Now strung up from a ladder in my bedroom like some kind of art installation.  Waiting to be hung in a place where I can look up and see it overhead.   Do you have chandeliers in your home?