Sunday morning so we had a lie in which was good after a tiring couple of days. A nice relaxing breakfast and we were on our way.

Today’s target was Le Jardin Secret which is a beautiful Islamic style garden that we had first seen a few years ago in Monty Don’s series “Paradise Gardens” on the BBC. It is housed in the restored garden of a palace and is indeed very secret; at the time of the tv series it had only recently been restored but is now maturing nicely. Laid out in four main sections it has trees, shrubs and ground level planting to give plenty of interest. It also has lovely areas of shade and plenty of seats and a pergola in the centre with a bubbling fountain.

It also has a nice café on a first floor terrace which is where we went for a nice overview of the garden and a drink. Mrs Sixwheeler returned to the garden while I went on a tour of the tower in the corner of the palace grounds. This had been built for the Sultan who was a short, stout gentleman so the steps were nice and shallow. Alas he was also short so the door onto the roof was low and I gave my head a right crack as I went through it! Blood everywhere but fortunately I had some antiseptic tissues with me and quickly cleaned it up and popped a hat on to hold it in place.

While we were talking the middle of the day call to prayer started and it apparently starts in the most westerly minaret and works its way round in order. From the tower I counted at least twenty minarets and it was a truly magical moment although some voices were better than others. Fun Fact: the game of rugby is quite popular in Morocco and our guide had played in Marrakech at school and college. He looked a useful wing.

It was glorious in the garden so we took the option to have lunch sitting outside the other little café they have there and it was delicious and there was beer. All this had taken up a good amount of time so we were happy to head back for an afternoon rest. Later we walked to a restaurant we had seen and had an excellent supper and again beer was available and appreciated.

More soon….

30 March 2022

PS: when we left home the UK was an hour behind Morocco but on Sunday morning the clocks in the UK went forward an hour for British Summer Time whereas the clocks in Morocco went back an hour so now Morocco is an hour ahead of the UK. Confused? We were. But at least now the hat airline has brought our flight time forward an hour on Friday we will still arrive back at the original time. I think.🤔