Jacques-André and Huguette T., Neuchâtel (Switzerland), October 2018

In the footsteps of the Little Prince -  "As a teenager, I had discovered The Little Prince at the same time as, on the map of Africa, St.Exupéry's Night Flight, its stopover in Cap Juby, Morocco, and the stars of the immense Moroccan sky. with great comfort, equipped with respect for Moroccan genius, and opening onto a large swimming pool and a neat estate.The star of Saint-Exupéry, I found it at the Jardin aux Etoiles, at Jean-Luc's, in Agadir.

​

Due to lack of time, we did not visit Morocco, nor southern Morocco in their entirety, but we collected various experiences of Moroccan lives.

First in Agadir, the city of the 1960 earthquake, which I remembered well. The visit to its kasbah, on the damaged hill, allowed me to measure the caution of the Moroccan authorities, who prohibit any construction in the threatened area. We live with risk in Agadir. If there is a strong memory in Agadir, it was, a few hundred  meters from the riad, the artisanal bakery, managed from generation to generation since the dawn of time, with its instruments carried out with sure gestures transmitted from time immemorial. Time seemed to have stood still in this very old artisan bakery, bathed in the blond flour and hubbub of the workshop.

​

The seven-kilometre horse-drawn carriage tour around the city of Taroudant was a strong Berber breath, as was the visit to the open-air tannery, with its violent smells of dried skins from dozens of animals, and astonishing the visit to a perfume company with global reach.

At Salam Palace, I  rediscovered the charm of films from the colonial era. A lost era for hundreds of French people who had to leave the Protectorate that they had nevertheless helped to build. And Dar Zitoune, with Mr. Marc and Mrs. Zézette, where time passes quietly and pleasantly, African style. Do you know that I met a former employee there? of the Swiss National Circus Knie ? It is from Taroudant  that dozens of Moroccan laborers set off each spring, knowing how to set up each night, in a fascinating way, in a few hours, the big circus tent. Mr. Boujema told me about Switzerland as a connoisseur that he was, having set up his circus there several times. Totally surprising encounter.

A three-hour crossing of the spectacular foothills of the Atlas, Marrakech is one of Morocco's flagship cities. Sumptuous imperial city, today the world capital of the planet's efforts for its environment. Enter the  superb Majorelle Garden under the arch of its bamboo alley is pure happiness. Nearby, the Yves Saint-Laurent Museum has just opened, with very modern writing, dedicated to the art of the couturier. French public almost totally, but living exhibition of the art of fashion on Moroccan soil. Still nearby, the Museum of Weaving and Carpets, also of high quality.

How pleasant the weather must have been on the terraces of the great Jama-el-Fna square, before the attack that we remember, in its luxurious hotels, also in the riad where we were staying, a surprising space of modernity in the heart of the medina, or in its restaurants with oriental charm such as the Dar-Zellij, with the bewitching welcome of the Thousand and One Nights and the quality cuisine.

You can only see well with the heart, said the Little Prince. Le Jardin aux Etoiles is the favorite of Jean-Luc Vautravers, architect in love and proud of his riad, talkative guide and connoisseur of Morocco, charming host of his Tschoumy friends. Memorable Moroccan stay. Thank you, Jean-Luc !"