BODY MIND SOUL ESSAOUIRA

We're in Essaouira today to join the kick off of the new 2017 'Mind Body Soul' program.

Free sessions of yoga, extended walks and Mindfulness every month.

And as a real challenge in June...A women's Toubkal climb.

Join us when in Essaouira or

contact us

for more info!

Program:

January:

15th Free yoga at the beach with

Rachel Bonkink​

19th Free Guided Beachwalk Essaouira North direction Moulay Bouzerktoun.

27th Free Meditative walk (awareness) beach and Medina with Marlène Pauly

February:

04th Free yoga at the beach with

Laila Sell​

16th Free guided walk Essaouira to Sidi Kaouiki.

25th Free Meditative walk (awareness) beach and Medina with Marlène Pauly

March:

09th Free guided Walk Essaouira to the Mast in Ounagha.

11th Free yoga at the beach with

Brigitte Pesando

25th Free Meditative walk (awareness) beach and Medina with Marlène Pauly

MORE INFO at our

FB Page

AND OUR MAJOR PROJECT: (contribution)

June 16 - 18 TOUBKAL CLIMBING OPEN FOR ALL!

Subscribe now!

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MOROCCAN INTERIORS - subtle Moroccan whites.

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Wit. Sneeuwwit, roomwit of gebroken wit. Het hangt er net van af. Wit is wat er te voorschijn komt als de natuurlijke ingredienten met elkaar gemengd worden.  En dat maakt het nu net zo 'anders' hier. Want wit is hier nooit net hetzelfde. Kleurcodes bestaan niet omdat wit gemaakt wordt met kalk of wit zand andere natuurlijke materialen die voorhanden zijn. Puur wit komt daarom uiterst zelden voor. Laat je

inspireren

door Marokkaans wit, in al zijn varianten op ons Pinterest moodboard :). Witte muren in Kalkverf. Tadelakt in roomkleurig wit of cement vloeren in gebroken wit. Het is vooral de combinatie met elkaar en de natuurlijke houttinten die het zo mooi maken.

Pinterest moodboard - Moroccan whites

Pinterest moodboard - Moroccan whites

Pinterest moodboard - Moroccan whites

White.

Snow white, creamy white or off-white. It all just depends.

White

is what emerges as the natural ingedients are mixed together. And this is what makes the 'difference'. Because white is never white as it was before. Colour codes do not exist because white is made with lime or other natural materials available. Pure white, therefore, is extremely rare. Get

inspired

by Moroccan white, in all its varieties at our Pinterest moodboard :).  White walls in chalk paint, warm white tadelakt and off white cement floors. It's more in combining all these whites and adding natural woods to it that makes it so unique

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INTERIOR DESIGN HELP - 7 ways to mix 'African' style into your Nordic home

Casa Cook hotel Rhodes

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Still impressed by this new hotel in Marrakech, and still a die-hard fan of La Famille we 'll take you on an interior design help tour, if only virtual, to show you ways to take home some of this and mix it with a Nordic style interior. The number of Moroccan interior design stores in the Netherlands is growing fast and Belgium is coming after but that might soon be different we have from a reliable source! so you do not REALLY have to take that lamp of half the size of the cockpit on that flight home. Unless you REALLY can't resist of course 😏. Therefore, hurray the Scandinavian style but 'never' without a touch of Moroccan sun, lazy vibe and 'je m'en fou' attitude.

What country are you from and do you have Moroccan interior design available to decorate? 

Nog steeds onder de indruk van

dit nieuwe hotel

in Marrakech, en ook wel nog altijd zwaar fan van

La Famille

gaan we deze week op zoek om dit gevoel ook mee naar huis te nemen.  Het aantal Marokkaanse interieur winkels in Nederland is ruim en ook België timmert heel erg aan de weg hebben we uit goede bron!  Je hoeft dus ECHT niet met die halve cockpit van een lamp op die vlucht.  Tenzij je natuurlijk ECHT niet kan weerstaan 😏.  Daarom, lang leve de Scandinavische stijl maar 'never' zonder een vleugje Marokkaanse zon, lazy vibe en je m'en fou. 

Elle Decoration.se

 What's Moroccan here? Well...what's not!? This table, the lamp, the wooden pots and the fixed corner sofa. Jalla that's Maroc!

Casa Cook hotel Rhodes

And yep, this lamp again ! But notice the old pottery! So Moroccan (but not cheap) 😑

Pinterest

A house my style! something in between a Belgian farmhouse and a Moroccan cage house!

HK living. Shoot by Paulina Arcklin

Go safe and just add a carpet and a basket ! (love the basket! )

Coté Maison

One of my favourites! look the simple way the wiring is fixed! So Moroccan.The lamp, the chairs, the blankets, the table (think I might have 6 of these :) Ready for a mint tea?

Pinterest

These lamps are really popular right now and even

Ikea

(yes yes we finally have ikea in Morocco)

has them for a while already. But if you can go for the real stuff. Less perfect, more soal!

picture credits: All photos were found on pinterest but even after sourcing we did not find all the real sites, nor photographers. We welcome any help on this!

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ONLINE SHOPPING FROM THE SOUKS - Christmas ideas for boys

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Nederlands onder

Fair is fair! After indulging in our favourite pink tones and loads of glitter while hunting the souks for

little girls dreams

, it now is time to get macho in our online shopping from the souks for boys! Hello mini men get ready for some real big guy stuff we found for you! (including nothing less but a donkey 😏)

Happy reading! 

Eerlijk is eerlijk, nadat we ons ondergedompeld hadden in glitter en roze, op zoek naar

cadeautjes voor meisjes

. Nu zijn we een beetje de macho toer op gegaan met onze online shopping uit de souks. Hallo kleine kerels! Maak je klaar voor een mini mannen aangelegenheid! ( met niets minder dan een echte ezel 😏)

Happy  reading!

1 - get a donkey and safe a

donkey

! This is truly a win win and ooo so cute. To order one, or get on the list as these donkeys are selling out fast, hop over to

Jarjeermules

.

2 - a friend for life is a leather

backpack

that gets more beautiful year after year. This one we found on

Etsy

3 - soft leather berber

babouches

for inside. Kind a like these at 

Bohemia Design

4 - for every occasion. leather

bracelets

or hip and any reason is a good one to add one to the collection.  These we found online at

Etsy

5 - now we're talking the real stuff! We admit

a dagger

is not something to play around with, but it's such a nice item to collect and to decorate a boy's room!

.

Available at

Moroccan Bazar

And remember! If you don't find it online - we can source it for you!

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MOROCCAN CHRISTMAS m o o d s

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1 december! En daar hebben we zitten op wachten.  Het is nu officieel, zonder schaamte. Ik ga mijn kerstdecoratie bijeen zoeken. Ja, je hoort het goed.  Enkele dagen strandjutten hier langs de Oceaan in Essaouira levert het perfecte basiswerk aan drijfhout.  Verder wil ik dit jaar veel met lichtjes en groen...en mijn nieuwe verslaving natuurlijk - zwarte pompons -

Wil je meer kerstinspiratie vanuit Marokko?  Kijk dan zeker op ons

mood board

!  Vol met leuke zelfmaak ideëen om de tijd voor kerstmis leuk door te brengen.

1st of December!  Exactly what we had been waiting for.  As of now, it's fully legal to go for Christmas :).

First step is to search the beach here in Essaouira to get the basic stuff! Driftwood!  This year we're inspired by green and loads of lights.  And then our newest addiction of course black pompons in all sizes, straight from the souks.

For more Christmas inspiration, have a look at our

mood board

.  Smart ideas and loads of DIY to have some pre-Christmas fun

Here is free gift number 6: a vintage Moroccan kelim pouf!!!

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GIFTS FROM THE SOUKS - GIRLS

English down

Zondagen zijn voor munt thee en cupcakes.

(is daar eigenlijk een Nederlands woord voor?)

Wollen sokken en glamour. Dromen en plannen...

Plannen met de feesten in het verschiet? Right! We snappen het!

Onze favoriete vondsten in de souks. Wij zochten ze voor jullie op online!

Happy  s u n d a y reading!

Sundays are for Mint tea and cupcakes. Socks and glamour. Dreams and planning.

Planning right now might be finding some nice gifts for your dear ones.

Our favourite SOUK treasures for little girls. We found them for you online!

Happy  s u n d a y reading! 

1 - a

carpet

is a more expensive but ever lasting gift. this lovely Azilal comes from

cococarpets

2 - a friend for life is these small

dromadelires

made from recycled fabric. Made by

Pascalemetlesvoiles

3 - soft leather dream

babouches

for inside. These ones by

Bohemia Design

4 - to write in style. Traditional Bic

pens

are covered with threads of cactussilk.  We found them here online

Dar Amina

5 - for small treasures, these wicker and or palmleaves

baskets

.

Available at

Leif Shop

And remember! If you don't find it online - we can source it for you!

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CHRISTMAS SHOPPING IN THE SOUKS

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Ik kan jullie zo 5 redenen geven om je luie gat richting Marrakech te bewegen ..hm.

1) omdat het november is en een straaltje Marokkaanse warme zon heel erg welkom is.

2) omdat je eigenlijk nooit een reden nodig hebt om te reizen!

3) En hallooo, het is hier wel AFRIKA hé!

4) het exotische karakter valt absoluut niet te onderschatten...

5)Het zou wel eens goedkoper en veel meer fun kunnen zijn om dat ticket te boeken en te onderhandelen in de soeks, dan dure wijn te drinken in je luie zetel bij de haard terwijl je online zit te kopen.

I can give you five good reasons to get your lazy but on a plane to Marrakech.

1) because it's November and you could do with some sun.

2) because there is always a reason to travel

3) because héj! THIS IS AFRICA. not just any place on earth!

4) it's exotic beyond imagination

5) it might be cheaper to book a trip and get the fun on bargaining out here then to order and ship in your lazy corner in front of the fireplace.

Je hebt geen idee wat te kopen?

Dus waarom zou je er nog maar aan denken om de marsepijn en de tapas aan de kant te schuiven?

En net daar komen wij met de redding! Wij zijn altijd op jacht naar gemakkelijk te pakken en 'redelijk' gemakkelijk te onderhandelen items.

Beschouw het als een starterspack: 'shopping in de souks'

you have no idea what to shop?

So why bother to even think about coming from behind that glass of glue wine when you don't know what to expect out there?

Now that's what we did for you! Trendhunting the souks to see what's hot, easy to pack and has a fair level of 'how do I negotiate the price'.  Let's consider it a starter pack....hm

The best, hottest items lined up for you:

handira poof

Forget about the handira* and say HELLO handira poof.  It's hot, and even I needed a change after being bombed with handira blankets over the past 4 years.  The poof is THE new handira IT thing.  Basta!

ponpon blankets

when it has a ponpon, it's IN. It does not matter.  After the sequins, some clever Moroccan came one sunny day with a ponpon and voilà (pardon my french) EVERYTHING has a ponpon nowadays. However, keep it stylish and go for a nice wool blanket with ponpons. After all you will return to the bitter cold when you get back on that plane don't you?

goat fur babouches

- Say hello to the IT shoe*.  We soooo love the hairy scary ones. I swear, you might think they run off by themselves.  COOL!! (and warm too 😚)

colourful baskets

- And why don't we dare to go for some colour? Be honest, running around here in Marrakech will get you at a critical point of colour overload.  But, you will NOT be able to resist it. You will come home in your gray white wood Nordic inspired home and OMG there you are with this flashy pink and green basket. I know the feeling. You will first want to hide it from your friends. But then, you realise it looks STUNNING. Well done! you passed your comfort zone!!

anything with colour and bling to impress

 - everyone has these nieces, uncles, mothers in law that one wants to impress, but not in spite of anything.  And yep, once again, we have you covered!  While hunting the souks for what really matters 😝 you just grab left and right and all these beautiful, colourful, pink and purple, shiny things for about 1 to 10 euro, pile up and...everybody is happy!

* handira: traditional Moroccan wedding blanket. Used as a cape by the bride on her wedding.

* it shoe: Babouches seem to be hot and trending. If you tell this to a Moroccan at the street he will look at you with a face as if he had known it all along...

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MOROCCAN LUXURIES - HAMMAM AT SPA AZUR ESSAOUIRA

Hammam or Hamam?

It was Weekend, I felt stressed and in need of some pampering. Living in Morocco the answer is very simple. Let's go

Hammam

! Being in Essaouira, as in most places in this country, the choice was

not

that simple as the offer on hammams in all different kind of styles and price ranges is huge.

My choice was Hammam and Spa Azur. All my friends had been there and it would give me a fair level in comparing it with the newest relax and detox place in town, Cocooning.

Het was weekend, ik voelde dat mijn rug wel een ontstress moment nodig had en bovendien keek ik wel uit naar een verwenmomentje. Als je in Marokko woont is het antwoord dan heel simpel. Op naar de Hammam! Ik was in Essaouira en net zoals in de meeste Marokkaanse steden, is de keuze dan weer niet simpel daar het aanbod in alle prijsklassen en luxe niveaus overweldigend is.

Mijn keuze viel op Hammam en Spa Azur. Al mijn vrienden waren er al geweest en de mede-eigenaar Jack is een vriend. Het zou meteen een goede vergelijkingsbasis zijn met het nieuwste verwen adres, Cocooning.

Both

spas

are among the top 5 and after having visited them both,

with Hammam and ayurvedic massage in Cocooning.

Hammam and back massage in Azur.

Here are my results!

Interior:

Both are very stylish and as a former architect, I would say that Azur is a little more intimate while as Cocooning is airy and zen.

Staff:

AZUR!

Very friendly and professional staff that is well trained and meets all your needs.

Hammam room:

Azur

I just LOVE the hammam space in Azur.

black tadelakt

black zelliges

beautiful copper lamps

steam

nice echo from the waterdrops coming from the ceiling.

candles .....

Hammam treatment:

Both were excellent!

Massage:

Both therapists were very good.

The Ayurvedic massage was at first deep and a little painful while working on the legs but  ended calm and relaxing. Definitely, I recommend!

The back massage was fantastic! This girl has been unstressing some backs I can tell you!!!

After treatment:

At Azur spa, I got the best tea blend I ever had in Morocco! Mixed together in house. The relaxing corner by the fireplace is luxurious and glam. It was very calm and one could unwind fully. There were just some people there wich made it a great experience.

Cocooning has a stylish sleek relax area with soft music and nice perfumes. However, I did not like the fact that a loud group came in and that it was heard all over the place. It took away a big part of the relaxing vibe. The staff should be more attentive to this.

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SHOPPING ESSAOUIRA - BOHO FESTIVAL STYLE

Essaouira is getting ready for it's own Coachella Festival.

And we are getting ready to get an outfit for that!

The best shops in town to do just that! Get a global mix of everything trending, creative and edgy to mix in AND stand out during the

worldfestivals for the stylish ones

...

L'Histoire des Filles

1 rue Mohamed Ben Messaoud

Different collections within one boutique. the best brnads that Morocco has to offer.

Essaouira - Marrakech - Tanger. - Fez ..

You can find designers from all over the country and recycle to upscale Must Have is HOT in Morocco!

Topolina

Place Chrib Atay, Place Khaïma

A trendy boutique of mother and son. 

For women: Stylish unique one size dresses for summerdays, poolside moments or party evenings.  

For men: colourful shoes and catwalk proof prints for bermuda's and shoes...

LOVE

Baba Gi

179, Rue Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah , 44000

-

Essaouira

In

the Mellah quarter, this boutique will catch your eye! Chouchou & Gino have collected a world of colours  in their little shop! (juwelery, cloths, shoes, fabrics and interior design objects) from Asia, Europe and Latin America. Also Moroccan design is represented by some stunning art and recycle objects 'made in Essaouira'

Just some houses further up the road, a new shop recently opened with some stunning Moroccan designer clothing!

Isla Yemaya Creation

De ceations of Ysabel Despouy are available on several places and she is also opening her own atelier for you on demand.

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PINK - THE NEW BLACK

Trends: Pink is no longer! Think broink and grink or bink.

For all of you who think pink is for Barbies, 'maybe' for Ken...

Pink is hot in the Medina and more then ever a stayer.   These shades of pink are going to conquer the world and invade your life AND you are going to say 'yes' one way or the other...

riad Noir d'Ivoire - Palais d'hȏtes Marrakech ⏐coco-morocco.com

Not convinced?

Let me tell you that pink has grown, if growing means becoming more subtle at least!
Meet the MARRAKECH PINK:

Faded undertones of pink with a beige grey or brown base.

The most exclusive hotels and riads are using it to soften the sunlight and giving you this instant home feeling.

Dress it with silver gold and warm oranges to make it luxurious.

Dress it up to become more spicy-bohemian with emerald green, purple and orange. Think El Fenn and Le Jardin as an example

Dress it with natural wicker and wood tones to become 'natural'

riad Adore - luxury riad Marrakech ⏐coco-morocco.com

riad Kafila - Essaouira ⏐coco-morocco.com

Trending: Roze is niet langer! Denk groze, broze, be-oze.

Dacht u dat roze iets voor Barbies was, of in het uiterste geval ook nog net voor Ken...

Roze is hot in de Medina en meer dan ooit een blijver.

Deze nuances van roze gaan de wereld veroveren en ook U gaat ook op de ene of andere manier overstag gaan en volmondig  'ja' zeggen hoe u het ook draait of keert...

Niet overtuigd?
Laat u overtuigen aan de hand van de foto's dat roze volwassen is geworden, tenminste als volwassen worden betekent dat de tint verzacht, zelfs verbleekt is. 
Het is hier, en het is hier om te blijven! Welkom MARRAKECH ROZE!  Subtiele ondertonen van roze met een basis van bruin, beige of grijs.

 De meest exclusieve hotels in Marrakech en Essaouira gebruiken het om het felle licht te dempen en een instant 'thuis' gevoel te creëren.

Style het met zilver, goud, warm oranje om het gevoel van luxe te versterken.

Vul het aan om een Bohemien look te verkrijgen door combinaties met smaragd groen, paars oranje en feller roze. denk hierbij aan  el fenn en Le Jardin in Marrakech

Schep een natuurlijke look door er  hout en rotan tinten aan toe te voegen en planten natuurlijk!

riad Up - luxury riad Marrakech ⏐coco-morocco.com More Morocco on | Facebook | Twitter |  Google+ |  Instagram | Website |