The Transformation Of The Red City

This North African city of medieval souks and winding streets is undergoing a dramatic transformation.

Marrakech and I go back almost 40 years, when I was assigned by the Peace Corps to teach English at the Lycée Mohammed V, deep in the medina. At the time, the city was an exotic North African backwater with only a handful of decent places to stay and eat, most of them holdovers from the French-colonial era. And the visitors were mostly hippies in search of good hash and cheap crash pads in the medina, which in those days was an unpaved, tumbledown collection of souks and town houses. Still, I loved the place: the snake charmers and acrobats on the Djemaa el-Fna, the orange-tree-edged Avenue Mohammed V, the Parisian-style Café Renaissance, in Guéliz, the sweet-smelling rose gardens, the exhilarating views of the snow-covered Atlas Mountains, and, above all, the warmth and wit of the Marrakchis.

Feel Better In Marrakech

Forget chilly lessons in the UK. Where better to beat a childhood phobia of water than on an intensive swimming course in Morocco? It was a warm winter morning in Marrakech and I was staring at a middle-aged man called Steven and urging myself to fall into his arms. "Just let yourself go," he said. "I can't, I just can't," I whimpered. "I'm scared – I have never done this before." "You can," urged Steven with persuasive authority. "You just need to let yourself relax."

From Stylish Marrakech To Essaouira

It'a the kind of place one first hears about in a yoga class, discussed in heated whispers between sun salutations. Or while eavesdropping on two model types with French accents in a cafe. About 10 years ago that place might have been Tulum, Mexico, but these days it's Essaouira, a tiny white-walled port city on Morocco's Atlantic coast.

While Marrakech is increasingly attracting stylish travelers from all over Europe to North Africa, the stylish expatriates of Marrakesh drive two hours to Essaouira (pronounced ess-ah-WEER-ah) for the weekend to escape the crowds. "I think of Essaouira as the beach of Marrakech," said an American transplant, Nancy Bridger, over coffee in Pâtisserie Driss, known for its brusque service but Paris-worthy croissants.