Museum Nejjarine Museum of Wood Arts and Crafts - Fez, Morocco

The Musée Nejjarine des Arts et Métiers du Bois is a 14th-century "caravanserrai," without a doubt the Fez medina's most modern restored monument. The three-story building is beautiful, with wood decoration and a patio. You can have tea on the rooftop and admire a great panoramic view over the medina. Originally, the building was a hotel where travelers could rest their camels and horses, get food, and sleep in one of the small rooms on the upper floors. There is also a former jail cell on the ground floor. The building displays Morocco's various native woods, 18th- and 19th-century woodworking tools, and a series of antique wooden doors and pieces of furniture. Nothing special, but the building is really fine and worth a visit. Also, after spending a day in the intricated pathways of the medina, you will appreciate the museum's palatial, cedar-ceiling public bathrooms, certainly the finest of their kind in Fez. (Last visit 03/2000)

Jardin Majorelle - Marrakesh, Morocco

Jardin Majorelle, a beautiful garden and Islamic art museum, is a colorful oasis of calm in dusty and chaotic Marrakesh. This was Yves Saint Laurent's haven of peace in the city he made his second home after Paris and where his ashes were scattered after his death in June 08. It is a quirky, magical, inspirational place. Try to get there at opening time, before the rest of weekending Marrakesh turns up after breakfast.

Outside: the magnificent garden with its elaborate cacti, yuccas, water lilies, jasmines, bougainvilleas, and vividly colored canary-yellow and florescent blue pathways, vases, fountains, and buildings is a joy of sight. The garden was built by the French painter Majorelle.

Inside: the blue house built in 1931 by the architect Paul Sinoir shelters the Islamic Art Museum, the personal collection of Pierre Bergé and Yves Saint Laurent. It presents objects of Islamic art coming from the Maghreb, the Orient, Africa and Asia. It is an extraordinary collection with ceramics and potteries of a great value, weapons and magnificent jewelry, textiles, carpets, woodworks (the wood doors are amazing) and other treasures. A space is also devoted to the works of Jacques Majorelle. (Last visited 05/2001)