Stereo Call to Prayer at 7am before breakfast in the courtyard of our Riad. We negotiate a taxi ride out to the Jardin Marjorelle and are pleased to have arrived early before the crowds. Lush cacti and cobalt blue and yellow paintwork (we try not to think of IKEA!) and exotic citrus groves in the gardens of Yves St Laurent. I buy some perfume created from the orange blossom flower heightened with notes of Fes jasmine and roses, Atlas cedar, pepper and Agadir saffron. Exotic memories. Another taxi ride out to the Menara with a charming driver who waits for us while we visit (we now know he must be getting a good deal). A beautiful lake in front of a pavilion in the imperial gardens although sadly the sun is in the wrong direction for truly arty shots. Back to the Souks for a spot of tabbing: baskets, rugs, pouffes, lamps, bowls and mugs. Ellie is the master of bartering. Simon and I are not very good. Fun is had by all and we have some lovely souvenirs. Feeling weary we decide to try a local Hammam. The girls and I apprehensively descend some steps into the female Hammam where we enter for 10 dirham. We strip and are led through into a warm wet steamy room filled with naked women and children washing each other and drenching themselves with buckets of hot water. We are led to some mats and women wash us with Savon Noire before exfoliating us with great enthusiasm which verges on the painful! Then a massage with oil and hair shampoo and scalp scrub. We feel totally and utterly cleansed when we return to the Riad to find poor Simon patiently waiting. The male experience sounded a lot more lonely and less exhilarating. Drinks and supper at Bazaar Cafe on the roof terrace.
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