Author Archives: gbooks

About gbooks

Our luxury travel service puts the ultimate touch on Journeys reflecting a unique experience of a lifetime; we design Legacy Travel for our clients. Our focus on bespoke Journeys entails more than a creative idea and a few reservations. We hand select our land teams, guides, behind the scenes experts - all who reflect our passion for excellence and personalized service. I’m passionate about travel and unique experiences; interested in meeting local people,studying architecture, discovering and learning as much as possible about every city I visit. I adore Paris, yearn to see more of Africa, a recent visit to Istanbul reminds me that there is much more to see in Turkey. A passage to India allowed me to explore the rich and diverse culture, and I barely scratched the surface of this amazing country. Love to sail, discover music and indigenous food of each region, seek out the best markets and design, and of course dine at the local restaurants. I particularly love roaming Africa, recently explored Argentina and India, which deserve another visit. A devoted Francophile, love all things Parisian, world music, excellent wines & champagne.

Banyan Tree Tamouda Bay – Exotic Sanctuary for the Senses.

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My Moroccan wanderings are often plotted, always a long list of new hotel properties to visit, souk shopping, photographing locals and exploring UNESCO village sites.

My many stopovers usually include a few beach visits – growing up near the ocean, a sunny beach beckons: Sun, sand, and me – beach therapy: endless miles of sand and lapping waves.

Banyan Tree Tamouda Bay, Morocco

The north coast of Morocco is not the first stop for many tourists vacationing in the country, and neither had it been mine on my previous Camel Caravans. Traversing a new path taking less traveled roads North of Tangier, Banyan Tree at Tamouda Bay is the picture-perfect beach resort. An extraordinary blend of romance with exotic Moroccan charm. It’s the Hamptons of Morocco, who knew?

Just an hour from Tangier, on the northwestern coast of Morocco, perched in the middle of two interesting cultural sites. Ten miles from the city of Tetouan, known as the white dove and younger sister of “Granada”, a city with Hispano-Moorish footmarks. the medina is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Banyan Tree is a world away from the wall-to-wall medinas of Marrakech or Fez. A luxurious five-star, 92 individual suite property facing a vast, flat white sandy beach, and sapphire seas, encompassing 60 acres. The property combines the Andalusian-Moorish legacy of the region with breathtaking views of the Mediterranean Sea. The extravagant arrival area, calling it reception isn’t refined enough, is crisscrossed with long white corridors intersected by glistening blue pools, tall arched doorways laced with hand-cut mosaic tiles and typical ironwork. While the exteriors are a Moorish austere white, the interiors are extravagant, elegantly decorated with traditional elaborate Moroccan panels, and bordered in rich bronze and moody blues.

  • Banyan Tree Tamouda Bay
  • Banyan Tree Tamouda Bay
  • Banyan Tree Tamouda Bay
  • Banyan Tree Tamouda Bay
  • Banyan Tree Tamouda Bay
  • Banyan Tree Tamouda Bay

The Villa accommodation is a highlight of the resort, tempting to never leave, except to pop out to my private pool. Beach clients who sunbathe au natural, this is home for you! My bike allowed me to explore the fields surrounding the Villas. Miles of sunset shore walks are my therapy, kids, fishermen and birds dot the sand.

Banyan Tree honors local Arabesque traditions and channels Moroccan charm and history; comfortable and spacious Villas, the main living area with ultra-high ceilings open to an expansive bedroom, private bathroom, pool and small garden.

The Beach Club is an oasis and a vision of brilliant white and spectacular blue water on the edge of the sand. From the resort, it’s almost a mirage, glistening in the distance.

Banyan Tree Tamouda Bay, Morocco

The spa is well known for its signature Rainforest Experience. The experience includes a hydrothermal path inviting a guest from one watery sensation to another, splashing rain drops to gentle sprays of warm mist. A sublime sanctuary for the senses!

Sultry long lunches at at Azura are a must, adjacent to a pond teeming with migrating ducks, croaking frogs, and iridescent dancing dragon flies.

Loved the Thai themed Saffron restaurant, with sunken dining area, savory menu and fun staff.

Banyan Tree Tamouda Bay, Morocco

Highly Recommend Banyan Tree Tamouda Bay. A sanctuary for the senses – a hidden gem set amidst the rugged Rif Mountains and the golden sands of Morocco’s northern coast.

Paris Art is Always a Good Idea. Two Celebration’s – Spring into Summer.

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Think late spring and try to avoid summer for these two exhibitions. The exhibition, Sheer: The diaphanous creations of Yves Saint Laurent will be on display at the Musée Yves Saint Laurent Paris. Dates: February 9 to to 25 August 2024. It will be the second chapter of a story that began last summer at the Museum of Lace and Fashion in Calais.

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The Musée Yves Saint Laurent Paris invited the curator Anne Dressen to be its artistic advisor; she will focus on transparency as a chosen artistic expression of Yves Saint Laurent. The exhibition has been designed by the architect Pauline Marchetti, whose work explores the intersection of perception and space.

Few articles of clothing are entirely transparent. In theory, transparency is incompatible with the very function of clothing, which is to cover the body, conceal or protect it. Intrigued by this contradiction, and by the powerful role diaphanous fabrics could play in his work, Yves Saint Laurent began using materials such as chiffon, lace and tulle in the 1960s. Like a leitmotif, he regularly employed transparency during his forty creative years, at times alongside embroidered or opaque fabrics. He daringly reconciled these contradictions, allowing women to proudly and boldly assert their bodies. 1966 announced the start of the sexual revolution of 1968. The female body was gradually revealed. Rudi Gernreich designed the first monokini in 1964. In 1966, Yves Saint Laurent made the female chest visible with his first sheer look, which he subtly covered with see-through cigaline. The nude look was born. In 1968, Saint Laurent designed the most emblematic example of this: a completely transparent chiffon dress with a belt made of ostrich feathers.

March 26 to July 14, 2024. The Musée d’Orsay Celebrates 150 years of Impressionism. Paris 1874.
Inventing impressionism 150 years ago, on April 15, 1874, the first impressionist exhibition opened in Paris. “Hungry for independence”, Monet, Renoir, Degas, Morisot, Pissarro, Sisley and Cézanne finally decided to free themselves from the rules by holding their own exhibition, outside official channels: impressionism was born. To celebrate this anniversary, Musée d’Orsay is presenting some 130 works and bringing a fresh eye to bear on this key date, regarded as the day that launched the avant-gardes.