After finally making it to the Marrakesh Museum, it was closed. We were disappointed but higher powers must have destined that we weren't supposed to go there as we stumbled across two equally amazing things - first a suprise wedding march through the narrow streets of Marrakech - men and women in robes singing and playing traditional horns and drums and complete with a poor live lamb carried along and all dressed up for dinner - what a spectacle!
And then we accidentally found the Maison de la Photographie, which was in a beautiful building - a quiet oasis from the crazy streets outside. We really enjoyed wandering through this suprise photography exhibition - the perfect way to discover "Scenes from the Life Quotienne", presented in large-format portraits from the 1870s to 1910.
The exhibition also included photographs by Flandrin, a photographer who set up his studio in Casablanca in the early twentieth century. We received a personalised tour and explanation of the photographs on the ground floor, which evoked the richness of different viewpoints between the western visitors and locals of the time. Many of the portraits of women showed the diversity of the Moroccan population: Jewish, Berber and Arabic women ... and even some European women as Morocco has been an exotic and fascinating place for Europeans to visit from the time of French colonization in the early 1900's.
The building itself is very interesting and now being used as a photography exhibition space makes it even more beautiful as you really want to engage with the photos and mood of the period in which they are set. Once you reach the top it has one of the most breathtaking views of the city of Marrakech all the way to the Atlas mountains. A welcoming little rooftop bar to have a drink and rest your weary feet for a while.
Maison de la Photographie, was worth a visit and right next to it was another beautiful building, which housed the restuarant La Foundouk, where we had booked to have dinner. I didn't think the food at La Foundouk was all that great, as it was a little too sweet for my pallet - particularly the Pigeon Pastille - but the beautiful Moroccan interior, atmosphere and eating on roof terrace while the sun went down and the Islamic prayers rang out was definitely a memorable experience.
