Laura Lavigne
  • Home
  • THE HAPPINESS SPRINKLING PROJECT
  • ART
  • Blog
  • COACHING
    • COACHING PACKAGES
  • HappyU
  • MORE
    • Happiness Retreats
    • THE CENTER FOR HAPPINESS
    • HAPPYU FREE COMMuNITY
    • HAPPINESS SPRINKLING CARDS
    • BOOKS BY LAURA
    • Laura's YouTube Channel
    • Essence Facilitators
I write because that's how
I get to taste life all the way.

GET my blog

Marrakesh Part 1 - Getting There

11/6/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
Note: While I was deeply affected by my time there, and am super  excited to share my experience through a series of blog posts, I am in no way an expert on Morocco, nor Marrakesh. I spent three days there, did not do much research ahead of time, and stayed within the walls of the medina most of the time. This is the equivalent of someone writing about their experience in France, after having spent three days in Montmartre. So, I am only sharing here what I saw and felt in this limited amount of space and time.

***

With a couple changes of clothes in our bags, we were ready and more than just a little bit excited.

I had always wanted to go to Marrakesh, and I thought that maybe I had blown my one chance thirty some years ago when I had turned down my parents’ invitation to join them. A  teenager with priorities, I apparently had an important party to attend, that weekend. Really.

So when I found us round trip tickets for 141€, we jumped on them fast.

The flight to Marrakesh left at 6 am, and we had to check in at 4. The easiest and cheapest thing to do this seemed to make our way to Pisa in the late afternoon, then take a snooze at the airport, after having paid our respects to the Leaning Tower. To her credit, our friend Marta was rather vocal about not liking our plan of sleeping at the airport, but we were full of adventurous spirit, had hitchhiked in the countryside, caught planes barefoot, and driven a Fiat on Italian freeways, so what was a night at the airport?

After walking through dreamlike night time Pisa, we made our way to the airport and found a couple of green plastic chairs to call home for the night. In a somewhat remote corner of the airport, they seemed fine enough, until a gentleman a few seats away decided to start listening to the TV on his iPhone, really loudly. A trip to the bathroom had me notice that there was an empty chapel nearby, and it was not long before we were laying down on the floor by the altar. Lights off, door closed and pretty darn comfy... before we were awakened rather abruptly by two security guards, informing us that the airport was closing. It was 1 am.

Several of us, including the gentleman with the iPhone, made our way groggily outside, looking around for shelter. The grass seemed like a good option, but then we noticed the sprinklers.

We settled in a closed restaurant’s covered area with tables and chairs, where a few people were gathered. It seemed that our trip had already started as most of our roommates looked Moroccan, and there was a very distinctly foreign flavor in the air. Because I was cold and I wanted some sense of privacy, I wrapped my scarf around my head and tried to sleep - when the iPod was once again loud, and there was no sleep to be had. When a man got up to ask firmly for it to be turned off, I knew that we weren’t the only ones with fragile nerves. We got up.

It was not warm, we were tired. We tried the parking lot. Gates closed. Then, on a whim, one of us pressed the parking elevator button. When the door opened, we looked at each other with surprise, and before the elevator changed its mind, we stepped inside. It was brightly lit, but it was out of the cold. And it was private.  For the next couple of hours, it was home. Sitting on the small floor, I could not help but think of what someone would see if they too, called the elevator. And that thought, combined with the lack of sleep, gave me a big fit of the giggles. Just when I thought I was over it, they would start again.  We managed to catch a little bit of rest, and were not a second late when the airport re-opened, at 4 am. We vowed not to tell Marta.

When we landed in Marrakesh, a few hours later and having slept in the plane, I was high. We were in Africa!!! Just like that, we were in Africa. The airport was beautiful, and as he had promised, Jan, our Airbnb host, was waiting for us.

Jan (pronounced Ian) is from Belgium and after spending the last twenty years in and out of Morocco, he had bought his riad  - where we would stay - and moved to Marrakech three years ago.

Meeting Jan was the biggest blessing for this adventure, and what made our trip the wonderful thing that it became.

Driving expertly through Marrakesh (which is much less crazy than driving in Italy), he talked to us about living there, and his life. I was drinking it all in. Finally, we parked right outside of the medina - the walled city - and walked the few steps home.

Of these few very first moments, I only remember being happy out of my mind. Also, the orange-ish dirt of the walls. And the heat. Eyes wide open, we followed Jan through a small side steet, and when he opened the door to the house, it was as though we had entered yet another world.

Quiet. Beauty. Exotic simplicity.

Even though the house has no window at all to the outside (to keep the women hidden, is what he told us), it is designed in a way that it is very light and airy. Small and three stories high, the whole house is built around a tiny courtyard / living room, open to the sky. All three floors look down onto the courtyard, and its plants, mosaic, and typical tiled small pool of water. Downstairs are the kitchen, courtyard, another living room and a bedroom. On the second floor are all the bedrooms, with beautiful open doors to the courtyard, and on the third floor is the rooftop terrace, looking over the city, the hazy hot air, and several mosques.

The best word I can use is enchanted. We were both under the spell.

Jan invited us to sit down in the courtyard and headed to the kitchen to prepare a pot of traditional mint tea, which we sipped together. Bliss...

He then showed us to our room, on the second floor. Intricately carved wooden doors, painted tiles, rich fabrics, heady scents, deep colors, lush plants, and everywhere Tadelakt,   the traditional Moroccan way to work with concrete so that it becomes smooth, round, waterproof, and so luscious you just have to caress it as you walk by. Which we did a lot.

Because one can only take so much magic in one gulp, we decided to take a quick nap before heading out with Jan.

XOOXOX
Picture
Share on Facebook
Receive my blog posts straight into your inbox
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Receive my posts in your email

    SCARED OF THE SACRED

    Picture
    Picture

    HAPPINESS SCHOOL:
    90 days to up-level your life in a FOREVER way.



    My new book:

    Picture


    My Elephant Journal Articles:


    Scared of the Sacred - Texas, Afghanistan and Sea Turtles

    What Happens When We Half A** Our Apologies

    I wasn't Expecting to Lose my Emotional Virginity on Lesvos

    Becoming One With My Backpack, at 53

    Some Days We Have to Mow the Lawn Twice


    The Lesson I Learned from a Moroccan Street Market

    Dear Man Who Says He Wants Intimacy

    How to Not Abandon Ourselves When the Going Gets Rough

    Just Sitting There Doing Nothing: What I Learned From an Italian Balcony
    Picture
    "Every time I read your blog I am so profoundly happy I did.  The truth you speak is just mindboggling.  The real, real voice you have.  It makes me almost crazy how much I love your words and your way of telling stories that cut to the quick- and I never have the words to really say how much this all means to me. 

    You put out so many heartfelt blog pieces that touch my heart and move me down the right path at the right time.  Pure beautiful magic girlie. I love you for this.

    Thank you for digging in there and finding the gems of wisdom and then just sharing them out as if there's an endless supply ... which with you, there is."


    "Thank you for sharing your wonderful, heartbreaking, exhilarating experience with the world."

    "Thank You Laura for sharing, for teaching and spreading loving kindness. "

    "I think I love you. You bring good things into my life, or remind me of things I love and know, but have let go of."

    "Laura, you are so good for me. I laugh and sniffle and get the shivers when I read your essays. Thanks so much for letting all your wonderfulness run around loose."

    "Heart-achingly beautiful, your words and how you reveal your truth."

    "Thank you so much for who you are and what you share with the world. Your mere being transforms lives as it has transformed mine. This particular post did to my heart what water does to parched soil."

    "Thank you for your gentle words that are packed full of wisdom. I have been struggling with the concept of what words can do to another person when they are negative words. Your words are the flip side of our word power, and shows how delightfully powerful kind words can be. Thank you."

    "Once again Laura Lavigne takes you on an adventure of the heart. She has a way of pulling you right in the car with her. Asking you to consider changing a fear to taking thoughtful action. Whether she's teaching a class, leading a retreat or heading for a happiness sprinkling, Laura will invite you to shed old ways of thinking and be completely authentic. Join in!"

    "Essentially pure love.
    I enjoy how Laura is kind to herself and to us other humans who dance in and out of each other's lives. "


    "Don't miss a post!
    You can count on Laura for warmth, humor, charm, and a lift to your day and your heart. She inspires me to be braver than I am, and to love the world out loud. She's a gem, and a generous one at that!"

    Me

    I write because this is the way I am able to  taste life more deeply.

    Archives

    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016

Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
  • Home
  • THE HAPPINESS SPRINKLING PROJECT
  • ART
  • Blog
  • COACHING
    • COACHING PACKAGES
  • HappyU
  • MORE
    • Happiness Retreats
    • THE CENTER FOR HAPPINESS
    • HAPPYU FREE COMMuNITY
    • HAPPINESS SPRINKLING CARDS
    • BOOKS BY LAURA
    • Laura's YouTube Channel
    • Essence Facilitators