Tag: essaouira

Trading the Heat of Africa for the Cool of Europe

Nov. 30, 2024

Hello everyone,

Hopefully, you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. 

While you were digging into a turkey, we were wrapping up the Morocco leg of our trip. Yesterday, we made the move back to Paris.

Or, to put it another way – we traded this view:

For this one:

As intense as Marrakech was, Essaouira was wonderfully laid back. 

For example, take people passing you on the street. In Marrakech – you had to keep an ear out for motorcycles tearing through the narrow passageways, because they wouldn’t stop as they came within an inch or two of you. Whereas in Essaouira – we rarely saw motorcycles, but if a bicyclist had to pass you around a corner, they’d apologize.

Another example were the street vendors. In Marrakech, walking through the souk or the square at night felt like a gauntlet. Storekeepers and food vendors would block your path in an effort to drive you into their stall. However, in Essaouira, maybe one in five vendors would look up from their phone to acknowledge you. There would be an occasional hard sell, but then I’d ask for a ridiculous transaction (e.g., to sell me a $12 scarf for $4) and then we’d be on our merry way.

We noticed that Essaouira had a European vibe to its streets, which makes sense. (The Medina was designed by European engineers.)

However, there is a distinctly Moroccan flare, even to the street art:

And, the city’s blue fishing boats… These small, but mighty ships feed everyone from locals to tourists, and seagulls to cats:

Now that we’re back in Paris:

We had to say goodbye to Brad and Sarah last night:

While it’s been a busy weekend, we’re excited to explore Paris for a few days.

All our love,

Tara (and Steve)

Essaouira – The Relaxed Pace we Didn’t Realize we Wanted or Needed

Nov. 27, 2024

In Marrakesh, we heard about how you can’t judge a riad (or anywhere else) by its door. (And, good luck trying to judge it another way, because there generally aren’t exterior windows either.) Basically, people don’t want their house to be flashy on the outside, because they don’t want to be disrespectful to people who have less resources or may be homeless. 

It’s an interesting point to consider, but it really hit home today when we made the move to Essaouira.

Essaouira is a beach town about 2.5 hours drive west of Marrakesh, which is a late 18th century fortified (walled) town that was designated by UNESCO as a world heritage site in 2001.

We expected Essaouira to be more laidback than Marrakesh, which it is:

We assumed that Essaouria would have the same Moroccan charm as Marrakech, which it has in spades:

We had seen the Airbnb photos, so we hand an idea of what to expect behind the door to our riad:

But, we were still pleasantly surprised:

And, when we saw the view, we decided to extend our stay:

We’re not sure how we’ll fill the next two days, but we’re looking forward to exploring Essaouira and discovering another surprise or two along the way.

All our love,

Tara (Steve, Sarah and Brad)