Sessilee Lopez | Marcus Ohlsson | Marrakech | Elle Sweden March 2011

Sessilee Lopez is captured in one of our favorite places — Marrakech — by Marcus Ohlsson for Elle Sweden, March 2011. Styled by   Lisa Lindqwister, Sessilee captures the sensual but discrete elegance of Morocco, revealed in secret spaces.

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Arriving At Le Yacout | Dark Drabness Into Sensual Splendor

Updated May 12, 2010

Liberating Confinement

Yes, digital culture can consume us. I’ve admitted my Blackberry addiction and taken the positive step of housing it, face down, in a drawer most nights. Yes, yes … the drawer is next to my bed, but it’s shut tightly.

Ultimately, though, I find technology liberating. Since I first wrote this journal on Nov. 11, 2007, my memories of Marrakesh are close at hand.

We have many readers and fans from the Middle East.

I’m fascinated by the ways in which technology and digital culture also bind us, creating human ties between total strangers. Are these ties real? Lasting? Emotionally satisfying?

In a strange way, I think so. We extend ourselves and perhaps take risks for each other. A warm digital hello from a talented stranger in foreign lands means as much a nod from a local store owner.  Shall we have tea together?

Tiempo para un te-Time for a tea via jose_miguelInto the Heart of Darkness

We are connected with each other. Just today I received a query about the wellbeing of Lubna Hussein, and I will respond to another stranger who is writing about Lubna. Every time I see my Facebook friends from the Middle East, I relive the profound sensations of my unique dining experience at Le Yacout and the sum of my days in Marrakesh.

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Marrakesh | Deeply Sensual Dining Pleasure at Le Yacout

Updated on Sun, November 18, 2007 by Anne

Updated 5-12-10

This night in Marrakesh remains one of the most memorable of my life, rapping softly on my senses when I least expect to reingage with it, like today. 

Le Yacout in MarrakeshIn all honestly, I can’t tell you anything about the food at Le (or Dar) Yacout, except that it was wonderfully good.  We began our journey to Le Yacout, walking into the dark alleyways of the Medina with a young Arab man from the restaurant as our guide.

(Read Having It All: Ferriss, Maryam and My Marrakesh 11-11-07 to understand my mindset and mood that evening. 

I don’t remember walking on rose petals, before I came to Le Yacout.  Stepping into the small vestibule of the restaurant, I was saturated in beauty, inflamed by flickering candles in bejeweled lanterns. There was no obvious electricity, and even today, good photos of Le Yacout are difficult to find.

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La Mamounia: A Royal Butterfly Returns to Marrakech

Winston Churchill considered La Mamounia and Marrakech the most unforgettable place on earth. The world-famous balcony that bathed his creative sensitivity in glorious light and perfumed gardens, was a temporary home to Churchill five times, including a 1943 visit he made with President Roosevelt after a conference in Casablanca.

“Sunset over the Atlas Mountains”, 1935 oil painting by Winston ChurchillAlfred Hitchcock shot scenes from “The Man Who Knew Too Much” in the La Mamounia’s lobby, which had lost some of its grandeur when I spent several nights in the Andalusian style palace a decade ago. I was somewhat underwhelmed with the hotel, after reading about La Mamounia’s glorious reputation and its recommendation by my friend Sabbia Rosa in Paris.

By every measure we loved our time in Marrakech. Our dinner at Le Yacout was one of the most memorable nights of my life, even if I have no recollection of what I ate for dinner.

The sensuality, mystery and intense spirituality of Marrakech took unforgettable possession of me that night, as my partner and I followed our young guide through the shuttered night maze of the Medina.

With no landmarks, street signs or shop windows to anchor my sense of place, I was powerfully aware of the need to trust this stranger to deliver us to Le Yacout as promised. Accustomed to being in charge of my life, I submitted graciously to his lead — but with a moment or two of conscious concern over having no control over the pace or direction of my footsteps.

Returning several hours later — following the same young man out of the Medina after saying goodbye to the magic of lanterns, the dining pool, an Arabic jazz combo, and the breeze I still feel on my face —  our driver from La Mamounia was waiting to return us to one of the world’s most iconic hotels.

It seems that I might not recognize the hotel, now that the jet set crowd christened the $176 million restoration of La Mamounia over Thanksgiving. High-end glamour is arriving in Marrakech, with the development of several extravagant properties, associated with global luxury hotels.

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