COTE DE TEXAS: A Piece of Marrakech

A Piece of Marrakech

1_blog_5

A swimming pool in the garden in Marrakech.

One day, the Blogger Girl in Houston received the oddest of emails, a request,  - would she, could she, please buy a huge amount of fabric?    Not just any fabric, but a fabric made for the outdoors, a fabric fit to withstand the hottest of suns, a fabric made to last a lifetime in a land far away from Houston, but very close to the Sahara Desert.  And also, this magical fabric must be of a magical color.  It must be blue, but not just any shade of blue, it must be a certain blue - a perfect blue to match the sky, to match the swimming pool, to match the tile.  And here, by the way, are pictures of the tile, the Blogger Girl was told. Can she match the fabric to this?

DSC_0015 DSC_0017

And later, more.  Here is the tile in the sun, after it had dried, and brightened:

tile

And so the plans were born.  The Blogger Girl in Houston would find the magical fabric in the perfect shade of blue and then the Blogger Girl would mail the fabric to someone who lived in California!  And that someone who lived in California would then take the fabric and put it in a bag - a certain bag that had been mailed to her for just this adventure - and together with the bag of fabric, the Californian Girl would fly across the globe to the land far away, near the Sahara Desert, where peacocks roam freely amongst groves of olive trees.   And so the plans were lain.

Blog_3

Peacocks from The Peacock Pavilions

The Blogger Girl in Houston fretted about her mission.  What if the blue wasn't the perfect shade?  What if the fabric wasn't hardy enough for the desert sun?   What if there wasn't even enough fabric to be bought?  After all, the fabric order was large, very large.   In the end, though, one fabric was chosen and approved and purchased.  It was all rolled up and bundled in its special bag for it's trip across the world.   The day finally came when the fabric made it's way with the Californian Girl across the Atlantic Ocean to Africa where it  further traveled to the ancient town of Marrakech. 

Ludo_1

The small, closed in streets of the Medina in Marrakech.

Once in Marrakech, the fabric, in it's special bag, wound it's way through the crowded streets of the Medina and outward through to the outskirts of the city where the peacocks roam amongst the olive trees.  And there, the fabric in it's special bag reached it's final destination at the Peacock Pavilions - the new, beautiful and romantic guest house conceived of and built by two Americans who now call Marrakech - home.    The ex pat Americans who live in Marrakech, who built the Peacock Pavilions, who ordered the fabric from the Houston Blogger Girl declared the fabric was perfect - it was just the right shade of blue that matched the tiles, that matched the pool, that matched the sky.   And then the 50 yards of fabric were cut up and sewn into cushions to sit upon the chaises that line the pool's edge.     And upon these blue cushions, many visitors will sit and cool themselves from the hot desert sun by the cool waters of the blue pool with it's blue tiles at the guest house where the peacocks roam amongst the olive trees grove.

Elev_bw_3_3

Architectural renderings of the Peacock Pavilions, guest house in Marrakech.

The Blogger Girl from Houston's work was done.  Her mission was over.  And she was so happy, and even a little proud, that she could help out the ex-pats who are building their guest house oasis amongst the peacocks and olive trees.   And she even dreamed that one day she would herself travel to Marrakech and see the chaises with their perfect blue fabric cushions.    A few weeks after the fabric arrived in Marrakech, the Blogger Girl from Houston found a package on her front porch.  And inside was the most beautiful silvered tray, not just any silvered tray, but an antique one from the Medina that had traveled all the way to Texas  from Africa, where it will be cherished and where it will be a constant reminder of the small favor the Blogger Girl had done for the ex pats who built The Peacock Pavilions.

maryam1 011

The antique silvered tray from Marrakech in its new home in Houston.

House_3_2 

Pictures of the Peacock Pavilions from a few months ago as it was being built.

House_5_2

The guest house is slated to open this summer for visitors.

Blog

The Peacock Pavilions will also have a gift shop selling beautiful Moroccan antiques, artifacts, clothing, and decorative objects.  Here a lunch laid out in Marrakech using the antique silvered trays. 

 

For information on The Peacock Pavilions -- please read here.    The guest house is expected to be open for business by the early summer.   And to Maryam, my favorite ex pat:   a million thank yous!  It is the most perfect surprise!

28 comments :

  1. OMG -- that was a pitch-perfect homage to My Marrakech!

    I am so envious of the lucky visitors who will get to stay at Peacock Pavilions ...

    Leah

    ReplyDelete
  2. What a fun mission. It sounds like they are excited about your color choice and you are excited about your newly relocated antique silver tray. Can you show us a swatch of the color, just in case we don't get to make the trip?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Leah - thanks! I tried to make it sound like Maryam - I'm glad you think it did!!!

    Lee: the color of the blue waw exactly the color of the two tiles - not the one tile that dried in the sun. It was a plain fabric by Sunbrella, nothing fancy, no pattern.

    thanks for the comments!
    Joni

    ReplyDelete
  4. What a perfectly wonderful post! Joni, I love the pictures, so beautiful, I wish I could see the fabric in person. Mission accomplished.:)
    xo Lidy

    ReplyDelete
  5. eeek, this sounds perfectly like me. ....That's so funny - I *loved* it! What a beautiful post! And so very glad that you liked the tray, Joni. It was the least I could do for your effort which will always be remembered at Peacock Pavilions, now opening November 15.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Joni, so glad you were able to find the perfect fabric for Maryam's wonderful venture. You will adore Maryam when you meet in person at Peacock Pavilions.

    ReplyDelete
  7. What a fun post ... mission impossible style completed!
    Delightful! Thanks for adding sunshine and beautiful colors to our days, Joni!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Joni! How perfect! It really did sound like Mryam. I am dying to see the fabric. I bet it is perfect too. Beautiful tray and beautiful story. I love that photo at the end. Yum. :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Joni, what a wonderful story! (I love the tiles!)

    -Lana

    ReplyDelete
  10. Beautiful story! And perfectly told. You're a gem!

    ReplyDelete
  11. What a really cool story and written with such style. I feel like I've been on a magical little journey!

    ReplyDelete
  12. the little blogger girl is topping every post with an even better one. What a STORY!!!! And what a beautiful silver tray!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Gorgeous! Peacock Pavilion is going to be a great success and the fabric you picked will be enjoyed by many guests. The tray is exquisite.

    ReplyDelete
  14. That WAS perfectly Maryam lol, in fact I was confused at first thinking Maryam was a guest blogger lol.

    I thoroughly enjoyed reading this story. What a wonderful thing to did for Maryam and Peacock Pavilions.

    I too have a dream of visiting Marrakech someday and I wouldn't dream of staying anywhere else.

    Anna :)

    ReplyDelete
  15. My Marrakesh is a daily read for me. I love everything about it. It's on my 100 places to see/stay before I die. Thanks for featuring it here.....so, so exotic to someone living in a cornfield.

    - Suzanne, the Farmer's Wife

    ReplyDelete
  16. A perfect choice, Joni, love the vision of the tiles with a simple fabric -- timeless! "What you put out into the universe always returns"!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Lovely post Blogger Girl from Houston! :)

    Now you know that when you travel to Marrakech you will have to take a friend with you....

    ReplyDelete
  18. You always make everything so interesting!! I really enjoyed reading this and I love all of your photos.
    Have a beautiful week.

    Brook

    ReplyDelete
  19. That was great, Joni. Perfectly Maryam, I really did think I was in the wrong place for a bit there. I would love to visit The Peacock Pavilions someday! Wouldn't that be amazing?

    Good job on your efforts to help in the cause!

    Happy day,
    Melissa

    ReplyDelete
  20. That is truly a fantastic tale of design and friendship. Perhaps we will all meet there...and sit on those chairs with your fabric.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Great to hear the story of interaction between two of my favorite bloggers. And to see some more details about the Peacock Pavilion. Thought I'd misdirected my click for a second or two.

    ReplyDelete
  22. What a great post! I was in Morocco when I was very young and have this memory of a very hot asphalt road through very hot sand dunes! I lived in Egypt for a few months, and being North Africa, the feeling of mystery and beautiful colours is very similar - thank you for bringing back these mamories!! :-)

    And you lucky girl - what a generous and stunning gift you got! :-) Well deserved too! ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  23. You're a great story teller Joni! You and Maryam are the best!

    ReplyDelete
  24. Yes it is a great story Joni! I love the fabric!

    ReplyDelete
  25. Absolute perfection! Glorious color in every picture too. A most magical adventure...oh to go there.

    Thank you for sharing this loveliness
    with us!

    Hugs,
    Sue

    ReplyDelete
  26. OH wow Joni! Thank you so much for sharing this neat story. Maryam has an amazing blog and I did not realize that this is what her new place will look like! Wow WOW and WOW. I hope to make to Peacock Pavilions some day in the near future - Morocco is definitely towards the top of my list of destinations :)

    Amazing.

    Karen

    ReplyDelete