THE SHELTERING SKY: La Tangerina, Les Passagers de Tanger, Les Merenides

UN THE AU SAHARA

Un petit voyage au Maroc

 TANGIER

Three great addresses 

La Tangerina

La Tangerina is a hotel/bed and breakfast where anyone going to Tangier should absolutely stay. We did just that so many times but though we now have a house to go to, we never fail to visit and never fail to admire it's cosiness, the attention to detail and the sophistication the owners Farida and Jurgens brought to it. You can tell how much it can indeed instantly feel like home when you see the pictures I am sharing. No explanation needed.

Impeccably refined bathroom covered in Zellige tiles with artistry and flair.

The Hamam. You are advised to order dinner at the hotel. You will not be able to go anywhere farther than the dining room. The rub downs and steam and massage with make you feel as sedate as a if you just had crossed the Mediterranean sea à la nage- swimming.

the terrace with a view of the start of Gibraltar and Spain and...

...the most fantastic breakfasts.

Les Passagers de Tanger

Anne et Francois Xavier had the Café Déco in L’Isle sur la Sorgues for 5 years but in 2008 decided to pack up, move to Morocco, and open a restaurant; not just any restaurant: Les Passagers de Tanger. It's beautiful, it has the best food in town and the most fabulous view around.

Francois Xavier the adorable owner

If you can read the menu, just one comment: it tastes even better than it sounds!

Great design: soft colors, Moroccan details, whimsical touches

A garden 3 floors above the hustle and bustle of the town.

Les Merenides

We have become friends with the most creative and most gracious shopowner in the Medina, Hassan, who during the summer moves to the Club Med on the Mediterranean shore east of Tangier. He designs wood furniture with leather and hammered metal accents that are modern yet warm and refined. He has a jeweler add metal wire details to all sorts of Glass containers like vases, pitchers and glasses and glass candle holders and sells an array of lamps and accessories in a multitude of vibrant or muted colors made of Tadelakt- a venetian stucco-like plaster finish- 

I love his candles; they are beautiful, smell divinely and add such a lovely candy colored touch anywhere they land.

Don't miss any of this if you ever get to Tangier. "Trust me, I am a decorator" as the saying goes. A gourmet, comfort loving, on-the-lookout-for-great-finds kind of decorator.

au revoir.