The Marrakech souks can seem stressful. This Marrakech souk guide with prices is helpful for any Moroccan souk for great deals on souvenirs and shopping!

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I’ve just returned from an intense working (and fun) week in Paris. Maison & Objet and Deco Off design shows sparked new fabric introductions on the Left Bank. We celebrated our new book, ‘Jean-Louis Deniot Interiors’. The couture season was one of the best and most vibrant of recent years. Recent news in Paris has been tragic. Last week’s mood was respectful, thoughtful and at the same time upbeat, optimistic and always celebrating creativity, beauty and style talent. This week I’m presenting my ‘homage to Paris’ with eloquent new images created by my very dear friend, the Paris-based photographer, Xavier Béjot. Xavier is the interior photographer who shot the fantastic images in ‘Jean-Louis Deniot Interiors.’ His lovely black and white images are exclusive to THE STYLE SALONISTE. Thank you, Xavier. Come with me for a special Paris visit. I’ve listed my picks of essential new architecture and design locations and thrills. A major highlight last week was a private visit to the Fondation Louis Vuitton, the new masterwork of Frank Gehry. And I’ve written personal notes about favorites to taste and see. It is time to set your work aside, and to pop the cork on a bottle of (non-vintage) Champagne…or a perfectly wonderful bottle of Bordeaux…and come with me for a Paris trip. And start making your list and plan for your next visit to Paris. What to See Now: Fondation Louis Vuitton by Frank Gehry (Bois de Boulogne) No photographs or critic’s comments I had seen since it opened late last year conveyed the thrill of this complex and magical new structure. It’s Frank Gehry at the height of his powers. It has been called ‘an art gallery’ or a gallery to house Bernard Arnault’s art collection. That is misleading. It’s all about the building, not the art. Fondation Louis Vuitton Gehry’s structure is graphically overpowering, complex, soaring, and balletic. A visitor walks far up into the high glass scales and exposed laminated beams and intricate systems. It’s like a dream factory—highly complex and hallucinatory and mysterious. It even seemed to relate structurally to the flying buttresses and soaring Gothic arches of Notre-Dame. Tip: book ahead online so that you can enter at a chosen time, without waiting in line. Slowly walk all the way up to the top of the structure, and down beside the waterfall, and then out into the garden to view it from the paths. Security is exceptionally tight, but they will allow you to re-enter. Stay for lunch or a sip at the bar, with views of the garden and ‘scales’. Highlight: the most impressive gallery displays all working models and drawings of the Gehry design. These and the time-lapse films that capture the multi-year process are worth the trip. Must see. New Exhibit at the Louis Vuitton Foundation, Just Announced I noted earlier that the art collection of the foundation seemed an afterthought. Suzanne Pagé, the foundation’s artistic director, has just announced an exhibition of modern masterpieces to open in April with loans Edvard Munch’s “The Scream,” Matisse’s “Dance” and Léger’s “Three Women (Le Grand Déjeuner).” Matisse’s “Dance,” not seen in Paris for 15 years, will be on loan from the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg; The foundation will also showcase works including Rothko’s “No. 46 (Black, Ocher, Red Over Red),” from the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles. Also reported to be in the show is Brancusi’s “Endless Column, Version 1,” from MoMA. Very exciting. But still, the building is the true masterpiece. Bravo, M. Gehry. Insider View: The Mazarine Library Xavier Béjot photographed these poetic interiors at the Mazarine Library (Bibliotheque Mazarine), an historic library unknown to visitors. But, you can visit and I highly recommend it. It’s near the Pont des Arts, Left Bank. www.bibliotheque-mazarine.fr/en/services/visit-the-library The Mazarine Library's gallery and exhibitions can be visited when the library is open to the public (Monday to Friday, 10 am to 6 pm). Visitors are asked not to disturb the readers. Brochures are available at the reception desk. It’s a working library, open for scholars and students. The free guided tours are for individual visitors only. A curator leads at the end of the day; they last about an hour and a half and focus on the history of the library and its collections, buildings, resources and services. Note: check online or stop by. The library is occasionally closed for various reasons. New at The Louvre I was fortunate to be invited to a private evening, a visit to the new Richelieu wing of decorative arts with charming new rooms for over 2,000 design objects. They start with the reign of France's Louis XIV, who lived in the Louvre, to his successors Louis XV and Louis XVI. Plan to spend perhaps a morning or afternoon there, if you are a designer, collector, architect, and lover of beauty. The small objects—Marie-Antoinette’s exquisite lacquer collections and a room of maritime and celestial navigation tools—are worth the trip. The new rooms have delightful and highly detailed interiors designed by Jacques Garcia (and with fabrics by Pierre Frey). This wing, the Louvre's north section, the Richelieu, recently re-opened after eight years of construction. I was entranced by the cabinets of curiosities, petite salons, gold mirrors, silk-covered chairs, and especially Marie-Antoinette’s collections with intricate precious stone inlays and lacquer. Book online so that you can enter quickly and efficiently. Every moment there is exquisite—and the very reason you are in Paris. My Favorite Bites and Flavors I dined at L’Arpege (a classic favorite) and Frenchie, and Restaurant Jean-Francois Piege (I first met him at the Crillon)—oh, and Allard (twice…it is also Pierre Bergé’s favorite)… and enjoyed a few sips at L'Hotel. Then I caught chocolate fever. Chic new chocolate shops are now on every block of Paris, and it’s tempting to hop in to buy a selection. I did. My favorite four chocolatiers—by far—are Pierre Marcolini (two shops on the Left Bank), and La Maison du Chocolat (which has seven locations)—and Pierre Hermé, and now Alain Ducasse next door to Café de Flore on rue St.-Benoit. I love La Maison du Chocolat for the refinement of their flavors (the bites are petite) and exquisite presentation. I adore Pierre Marcolini (based in Brussels) for his single-estate chocolates from small and rare growers in Madagascar, Venezuela, Brazil, Ecuador, Guinea and his easy-to-travel chocolate bars to take home. I love Pierre Hermé’s chocolates – and especially the passionfruit-flavored chocolate bars. They’re easy to take home--after selecting his macaroons (the best in Paris) and an Ispahan pastry, with red rose petals to enjoy on the spot. And I especially love Alain Ducasse (the great) for opening a very quiet and chic little shop, Le Chocolat Alain Ducasse, near the Deux-Magots and Café de Flore…very hidden. He emphasizes the artisanal nature of his approach. He is bean-to-bar, and one of the only makers who craft every detail of these rare bean chocolates. His flavors: very in-depth, layered, mysterious. Ducasse’s style (like most Parisian chocolatiers) tends toward dark 78 percent cacao. Ducasse’s individual chocolates are quite understated in style (no embellishment) and the packaging is quiet and not at all glitzy. Ultimate chic. I chose a Mendiant bar, full of candied fruit and nuts, and Peru and Madagascar bars to take home. Then I sat on the Louis XVI settee and watched the video of Ducasse’s chocolate making. Exciting. In Europe it’s possible to buy online: www.alain-ducasse.com/en/category/la-manufacture-de-chocolat. Ball in Paris I’ll be presenting images from a black tie ball interior designer Jean-Louis Deniot presented last week in Paris at the eighteenth-century Hotel de Salomon de Rothschild. It was in honor of our new book, ‘Jean-Louis Deniot Interiors’…and as well to officially mark his fifteenth years in business. Xavier Béjot, the photographer for the book (and the black and white images here), attended, along with many of the top interior designers and fashion designers of Paris, architects from around the world, and leading creative talents—curator Pamela Golbin, Yiouri and Ria Augousti, Hervé Van de Straeten and Bruno Frisoni, Sean Yashar and Oliver Furst, Holly Hunt, Jamie and Larry Creel, Charlotte Moss, Jay Jeffers and Michael Purdy, Princess Diane de Beauvau-Craon and her niece, vintage expert Didier Ludot, William Holloway, Virginie Deniot, and talents and glamour too fabulous to mention. More in coming weeks. Stay tuned. CREDIT: All black and white photography by Xavier Béjot.  www.xavierbejot.com

2016 is the year that would be remembered as one of the saddest years in cinematic history, with the lost of legendary actor Alan Rickman, ...

LIVE from the Happiest Place on Earth ✨ Did you know that although Disneyland celebrates its anniversary on July 17, that date is actually ONE DAY before the theme park would open to the public? July 17, 1955 was an invitation-only “International Press Preview” event, complete with a live presentation of “Dateline Disneyland.” Here’s a little more about “Dateline Disneyland”: • This special was the largest and most complicated live broadcast to date at the time. • Dateline Disneyland was hosted by Art Linkletter, Bob Cummings, and Ronald Reagan. • This special was 90 minutes and was aired from 7:30-9:00 PM on ABC. • Over 90 million Americans watched from home as they previewed the Happiest Place on Earth. • Thanks to 29 cameras, ABC was able to feature Disneyland’s Main Street U.

Time and the Universe:  Three days recently at the romantic Amanjena resort hotel, a few miles outside Marrakech, was a journey out of time. During my visit, I discovered hallucinatory Gnaoua music, enjoyed the early morning silence in the gardens, walked beneath the brilliant night sky, spent hours in a steamy hammam, and in the evenings marveled at Andalusian lute music. Tranquil and mysterious, my visit was pure escape. Amanjena’s terra-cotta colored walls echo those of Al Medina al Hamra (the red city), as well as the Berber villages of the High Atlas Mountains.  Gracious Oasis: Private, ultra-luxurious, and poised beside a tranquil lake near the city of Marrakech, Amanjena was one of my favorite discoveries in Morocco. Under the direction of the resident manager, Joana Guimaraes, the hotel custom-shapes a visit to the taste and style of the guest. It offers the kind of warm, intuitive and low-key approach I appreciate. In the early evening after I’d spend a day whirling through hidden souks in the Medina to find pale turquoise hand-made slippers, and lovely necklaces of ancient trade beads, I wanted to rest and read and write notes. My butler brought sweet mint tea, then lit the fire in my suite living room. It was a pyromaniac’s dream. Flames leapt and danced. I put down my book and watched the fire, sparks flying. Later, he brought some savory bites along with the menu of the resort’s menu for me to peruse, in advance of dinner. Perfect.  Water is a unifying element at Amanjena. Moroccan marble fountains are strewn with rose petals in the resort’s entrance colonnade. Flowing water is considered a gift in this desert country, a symbol of grace and abundance. Marrakech, formerly desert, was brought to radiant life by the brilliance of 11th century Almoravid irrigation. Central to the resort is an ancient bassin, an irrigation pool, inspired by Marrakech’s twelfth century Menara Gardens.  Opened in February 2000, Amanjena is the first Aman resort on the African continent. It’s located on the southern road to Ouarzazate. This is the gateway to the Sahara Desert and the High Atlas Mountains command the horizon. In winter, they’re dusted with snow. Amanjena is twenty minutes from the international airport but feels far removed from care and timetables. The drive to Amanjena passes the king’s palace (well, one of them) and Agdal Gardens, a twelfth century expanse of royal gardens filled by irrigated olive orchards and bitter-orange trees. The resort’s thirty-two hidden pavilions and six two-storey maisons radiate out from the bassin.  Each pavilion, its high Kasbah-style walls concealing the garden and interiors, opens to a grand, multi-faceted dome. The graduated ceiling is finished in glossy, rich, Venetian plaster, which glows in harmony with the room’s pale peach walls. Moroccan decorative arts are featured in a very under-stated style. Their lustrous finish is of tadlekt, a plaster treatment originally applied to waterproof hammam (steam bath) walls.  Under the dome, the pavilion bedroom is centred by a king-size bed balanced by Berber carpets and brass lanterns. The desk is finished in Moroccan leather coupled with a cherry-wood chair. A cedar cabinet holds the TV. Channels flow to two long canals which feed the resort gardens of olive and citrus trees, soaring date palms, orange-flame bougainvillea, pale peach hibiscus, orange- and white-blossomed rose bushes and pomegranate.  Amanjena’s entrance colonnade, with its long, arched entrance gallery, features grand double oak doors-within-doors. Traditional in style, they were handcrafted in Agadir. A cedar ceiling soars nine meters high, supported by the colonnade’s straw-flecked columns.  To the left of the lobby are the salons of the Bar/Fumoir. Further along is the two-storey Library, with its Arabic carpets, ceiling lanterns and upstairs gallery for fireside reading or daydreaming.  To the right of the lobby is the Moroccan restaurant, open for dinner. Specializing in innovative approaches to the local cuisine, as well as Continental dishes, The Moroccan has more than eighty onyx columns, plâtre ciselé artwork, moucharabieh-wood screens and a commanding pyramid skylight. The Restaurant, alongside the swimming pool, is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner indoors and in a garden courtyard. Authentic Thai cuisine is featured for lunch and dinner.  The columned Pool Terrace and the outdoor swimming pool are finished in glittering-green tiles of écaille de poisson-cut zellij (like fish scales) and adjacent to the resort’s three boutiques.  The Hammam: Prepare to enter a dream state. Prepare to undress. Prepare to drift off and dream. This hammam/spa has private hammams, with hand-made tiles in shades of pale clay and celadon.  The steamy ritual, which Moroccan women enjoy once or twice a week, is a series of delirious soaping, scrubbing, splashing, sluicing, washing, rinsing, rose-scented mud, eucalyptus-scented black soap, and dizzying massages with an abrasive scrub mitt. The masseuse, a young Moroccan woman attired in a flesh-colored leotard and tights, smoothes and sluices, splashes and throws buckets of water to rinse and repeat. Hours pass. It’s silent, enclosed, and mysterious. No effort is required. No thinking is demanded. Everything falls away. Eventually, after who knows how long, it is time for a quiet mint tea—and, surprise, a massage and pedicure. I hear birds twittering in the garden. Is it evening already? I would hardly know. Otherworldly. I walked back to my pavilion through the candlelit garden, the lights flickering across the basin. No sound broke my reverie. Mind and spirit refreshed, inspired.  Design of the resort was by Ed Tuttle, a California-born, Paris-based architect who has been responsible for so many of the Aman resoerts. Cedar doors lead to the pavilion’s garden courtyard and views to the adjacent golf course and olive groves. Eight pavilions have a heated pool and an extended private garden. A large lounging couch, flanked by black lanterns, rules the courtyard. The dazzle of hand-cut glazed tiles known as zellij features in a fountain recessed into the terracotta-tiled floor. Chaises longues and candle lanterns lend a mood of Moroccan indulgence. Amanjena’s pavilions rise seven meters from floor to ceiling in a variation of the Moroccan town house. Trines of second-floor windows look inward, as if to a garden courtyard.  What Would Omar Do? Expert tips on where to go and what to see: I asked the assistant general manager of Amanjena Omar Bouzarte, for his suggestions. One: Marrakech and the souk A half day guided tour (the hotel has excellent guides to recommend) offers time to explore the rich history of Marrakech through the Medersa and the Marrakech museum, as well as the new photography museum. Guides will craft their walking routes to guests who want to wander through the Medina and to discover the souk. Marrakech’s most dramatic landmark is the twelfth-century Koutoubia Mosque and its towering minaret, the tallest structure in the city. Established in the 14th century, the Ben Youssef Medersa is among the most beautiful of Marrakech’s buildings. Recently restored, the former Islamic theological college, with its inner courtyard, makes for a peaceful interlude. Where there are palaces, there are tombs and few more inviting than the Saadian Tombs, one of Marrakech’s most visited sites. Dating from the 16th century, the tombs are set in and about two intricately adorned mausoleums, one of which is the last resting place of Ahmed El Mansour, the greatest of the Almohad-era sultans. The central hall in Mansour’s mausoleum reveals exquisite examples of Moorish-Moroccan decorative art. Marrakech’s medina or ancient quarter is an inner world of winding lanes, souks and streams of Marrakchi merchants and shoppers wrapped in cotton or wool djellaba. There, in stall after stall are textiles, carpets, leather work (including babouches, the Moroccan leather slippers) and in souk after souk, jewellery, pottery, woodwork, copperware, furniture, silverware, fashions, and crafts. A guide can take a guest, on request, to Au Fil d’Or in Souk Semmarine. Upstairs are displayed babouches for men and women, including luscious mauve suede, gray flannel, purple silk. These are a favorites of Andre Leon Talley and his Vogue pals. Bill Blass, Nan Kempner, and rosters of chic and well-dressed have been clients. Downstairs, racks of braid-embroidered jackets, ivory silk djellabas and refined caftans. Ask the genial owners to recommend jewelers and craftsmen in this quarter. It’s very un-touristy, quiet, elegant.  Enjoy lunch at Grand Café de la Poste, a recommendation of Joana Guimaraes, resident manager of Amanjena. With its palm trees, patterned tiled floors, ceiling fans, and (occasionally) pianist, it will remind you of ‘Casablanca’. Suggested: a dozen Oualidia oysters (from the coast south of Essaouira) washed down with a glass of chilled white. Salade Nicoise. Roast sea bass. Lunch might also include a local goat's-cheese salad, croque monsieur, or grilled sardines. A lively scene, mostly chic locals. Trips Out: Beyond Marrakech, escape into the High Atlas Mountains for a morning or afternoon visiting remote Berber villages and their markets. Or hike into the hills, rife with trails. For climbers, Mount Toubkal is Morocco’s highest, the third-tallest peak in Africa. In the short winter season, there is skiing in the mountain village of Oukaïmeden, just 70 kilometres south of Marrakech. Two: Quad biking in Agafay desert Depart from Amanjena and drive about 45 minutes towards the Lake Lalla Takerkoust. After kitting out with safety equipment and an introduction to the vehicles, the tour in the desert landscape of Agafay begins. After about an hour of riding explorers reach La Pause, a rustic camp and sit down for lunch. A typical Berber lunch is served, with vegetables coming from their own garden. After lunch quad bikes continue the tour of the desert. After the adventure and the circuit guests arrive back at the car, for iced face towels and a cold drink  Three: Larbraa of Tighdouine A scenic drive through the fertile valleys at the foothills of the Atlas Mountains. A gentle walk through traditional Berber villages with verdant terraced fields. After walking the paths outside mud-walled houses, explorers enjoy the hospitality of a traditional village resident and an authentic lunch made from organic products from the region. Guests may be surprised to be offered a full tour of the house and discover traditional interiors, including earthen bread ovens.  Four: Desert Trip by Helicopter The hotel will arrange a helicopter to take guests to the remote Sahara desert. It is a harsh but beautiful environment, worth visiting for the scenery alone. The combination of impressive fortified kasbahs and dromedary-rides make this a memorable trip. High Atlas Mountains: The foothills are no more than 45 minutes drive from Amanjena, past fields of corn and barley and orchards and olive trees. With their dramatic switchback roads, the mountains reveal many dazzling pieces of the past, from ancient mosques to crumbling kasbahs and Berber villages that seem as one with the cliff sides they cling to. Five: Essaouira A rampart-circled port, Essaouira is an historic city of white-painted buildings trimmed with electric blue. Guests may explore the medina and enjoy a seafood lunch or romantic dinner at L’Heure Bleue Palais private hotel.  After a day of exploring the region, it’s rather wonderful to laze around the pool and do nothing, far away from the hustle and bustle of Marrakech. Dream in the warm sun. Doze in the shade. Perhaps play tennis on Amanjena’s courts. In the evening: At Amanjena, guests can celebrate a special occasion—wedding, engagement, birthday, anniversary, a family gathering, and the launch of a new company, in the resort’s olive garden In a decorated traditional tent, totally private, hotel staff creates a magical journey through the flavors, scents and sounds of Morocco. The fantasy scene might include dancers and musicians and traditional singers and lute players and flames flicker in handcrafted iron braziers and cast mysterious shadows across the garden.  Quick Travel Notes on Morocco:  The Kingdom of Morocco is a constitutional monarchy. Moroccans know their country as Maghrib. In Arabic, the word means ‘sunset’ or ‘west,’ acknowledging the kingdom’s place as the most western of the Arabic countries. Bordered in the north by the Mediterranean and to the west by the Atlantic, Morocco’s coast has excellent beaches and a long and dramatic coastline. To the east are four mountain ranges and the great oases and dunes of the Sahara. At 4,165m, Mount Toubkal, in the High Atlas Mountains, is the third highest peak in Africa. Climate: subtropical. Morocco’s latitude is similar to that of Southern California. Like California, Morocco’s varied landscape shapes a climate of great diversity, with extremes in the desert and mountain regions. While travelers may not want to experience Morocco’s southern desert in July or August, summer hiking in the Atlas Mountains is a popular activity. Summers in Marrakech are hot and dry, with temperatures reaching 38°C (100°F). Sun is the rule year-round, with occasional rain falling from October through March. Marrakech’s long temperate winters, November to April, settle in with pleasant average temperatures of 22°C (71°F). Most days are warm enough to sunbathe around the pool. CREDITS: Interior images of Amanjena courtesy Aman Resorts, used with express permission. Images of the lush palm gardens, the pools, and architecture by Diane Dorrans Saeks. Copyright, Diane Dorrans Saeks. For more information on Amanjena and other Aman resorts around the world: www.amanresorts.com Amanjena: Tel: (212) 24 403 353 Fax: (212) 24 403 477 E-mail: amanjena@amanresorts

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South Morocco had everything: Cities, mountains, desert & coast. Intrepid's South Morocco Discovery was the perfect way to experience it all

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