It is a little blush-making that so much of our lives here in Marrakech has centred around the Jardins de la Kouboutia hotel, a luxury hotel about a five minute walk from here, but I'm not sure what we would have done without it. It was the first cocktail bar that we discovered within an easy walk of our house (we have since found others, such as the glorious terrace of Cafe Arabe), it was our main source of internet for a long time having both an unsecured network and quiet salons in which to hide, undisturbed, for hours at a time, its swimming pool was a our refuge from the heat of July and the restaurant fed us (indifferently, it must be admitted) after these swims. The other night we discovered that all along, it has had an Indian restaurant, which while not very good by Western (or indeed, Eastern!) standards, is a rare treat here in Morocco. But best of all is the spa.
Yesterday I was feeling a little bit sorry for myself (something to do with the enthusiasm with which I threw myself into the task of getting through all that champagne) and felt that I couldn't possibly work, but instead needed to be pampered. I thought for a moment and then got out my brochure for the Jardins spa and booked myself in for a Clarins body treatment - more or less this one, I suppose, in its combined form. What followed *may* have been one of the nicest things that has ever happened to me. I was exfoliated, washed, massaged, oiled, moisturised, anti-cellulited, firmed and spritzed to within an inch of my life and it was *fabulous*. And, this being Morocco, it was also relatively inexpensive. I've had other treatments in that spa (hammam, massage, pedicure) but this was the best spa treatment I've ever had.
Now, if I could just find the address for the Clarins Institut de Beaute in Paris...
(Image thanks to Maroc Sejour.)
