Once upon a time, a girl of peculiar origins stumbled upon a secret garden. Well, it wasn't really secret, but let's not spoil the story.
It was called the Majorelle Garden and it could be found in the oasis city of Marrakesh. (Ah....oases. Visions and hallucinations are so charming....)
The Garden had been created by the French painter Jacques Majorelle and later purchased by Yves Saint Laurent. Oh-la-la.
Jacques Majorelle had a certain fondness for a particular cobalt blue that came to be known as Majorelle blue. Many people (okay, maybe just the girl in question) thought that this color had healing properties, since it was sure to cure depression just upon gazing at it.
And as an added insurance policy against grumpiness, there were splashes of sun -- umm, I mean yellow -- here and there in the Garden.
There were 350 varieties of plants in the Majorelle Garden. (The girl thought about counting them all but was known to get her numbers confused after 237.) The plants came from five different continents -- it was a well traveled garden, you see.
The cactus were particularly impressive. It was a fact that if you stared at them long enough, they looked just like little alien beings.
There were fountains, reflecting pools, and mermaids. (Well, the mermaids might just be a rumor but let's not quibble about the details.)
And everything looked just like a painting.
On the garden property there was an enchanted house, which was formerly the Majorelle art studio.
Upon inquiring about the price of the house, the girl was told that it was for sale for$14.03, exactly. She emptied her piggy bank and moved right in with her family. And they lived happily ever after. (Disclosure: This girl was known to fib quite a bit but I am quite sure that this part of the story is true.)
The End
Majorelle Garden Address: Avenue Yacoub el Mansour (main entrance on side street) Marrakech
Ticket price: 30 Moroccan dirhams Tel: 212- (0)24 301852
Hours: Daily, 8-5 in the Winter and 8-7 in the Summer. Closed mid-day for lunch.
