2 posts tagged “morocco”
The past few days with my mom have been fantastic. We've had some amazing meals at my friends' houses, visited three small museums (I recommend the Musée Jacquemart André, but not the Musée Maillol), walked all over Paris, and I think my mom got to see a (non-touristy) side of Paris. She complained that she hadn't seen the Seine in 3 days, so we walked over a bridge. It's funny to realize that my life here is just not really geared at the touristy spots anymore. I go days without going to the Left Bank, since both my apartment and job are Right Bank.
So I know I've been talking about this for ages, but I'm leaving tomorrow for Morocco. I'm assuming that I'll have some internet access in the riads, but I don't plan on spending my time there blogging, so I'm saying salaam alaykam until March 6th.
Until then, me and mom will be getting very clean, just like these ladies.
Some of you may have noticed that Lauren, aka La Maitresse, tagged me for a literary meme. Since the only reading materials near to hand at the moment are a Glamour magazine, a cookbook, and a French version of the Kama Sutra (I'm in bed. I have dozens of real books, but they're all in the living room) I grabbed my mom's book, Cooking for Mr. Latte. On page 123, I counted down 5 sentences, and here are the next 3 sentences:
"Well, then," Ed said, "you haven't lived."
"His mom makes a very good one," Jennifer added.
"I know, you should watch her the next time we're there," Ed said.
Hm. Is it just me, or does that sound dirty? It's probably just me, huh? Anyway, I hereby tag Anna and Sam. Meme away, ladies! It's a rollicking good time!
My mom arrived this morning, and I could not be happier. I hadn't seen her since October 31st, and I think this might be the longest we've ever gone. I need some shmuskying and snuggling. We'll spend the weekend in Paris, and then on Tuesday we're going to Morocco for a week! We'll spend 4 nights in Marrakesh, and 4 nights in Fez. I cannot wait to get to our riads. Check out Maison Mnabha, where we're staying in Marrakesh, and Dar Roumana in Fez. Gorgeous, right?
If any of you out there have been to these cities and have suggestions, please share! We're planning to do a few day trips (Essaouira? the cedar forests? Volubilis?) and maybe even a cooking lesson. And lounging. We're big loungers.
Today we didn't lounge at all, though. We got breakfast in a café, then we stumbled across a really beautiful Russian Orthodox church. We went in for a few minutes during a service, and saw golden mosaics, a priest swinging the incense, and heard Russian chants. Very cool. We then continued on through Parc Monceau, which is so pretty. It's the closest park to my house, so I can't wait till spring, when I can go hang out there all day.
We visited the Nissim de Camondo museum, which I highly recommend. It's a 19th century mansion designed and decorated completely in the style of the 18th century. The art, furniture, and general atmosphere have all been perfectly preserved. I wish I had taken my camera with me, but of course we both forgot. Oh well.
After lunch at le Comptoir (beef cheeks in wine sauce for me, gigot d'agneau for mom) and a walk through the Marais, we were both ready for a nap. Mom 'cause she's jet-lagged, and me 'cause I had like 3 glasses of wine at lunch. Whoops. We met Anna for dinner at Aux Bons Crus, a fantastic wine bistro in the 1st (I had foie gras, a warm goat cheese dish, steak tartare, and crème brulée. That's a lot, huh?). It's very low-key and not at all touristy. Just good food, cute waiters, and good wine. We walked off our second meal of meat in one day by strolling to Place Vendome and looking in all the windows on Rue St. Honoré. So all in all, a very good day.
