The Dane

Riad Hida was owned by a Danish millionaire from 1960 - 2001. Some of the rooms have been left furnished exactly as the were in his time. the library

 and living room

 which  has pictures of his mother,

 grandmother

 and son,

 now 86 and living in England.

Palais Riad Hida - The Hotel

We booked the smallest suite- The Pasha. It had a large living area  with seating and storage separated from the sleeping area by a screen. 

There was a king-size four poster bed and lots of space and then there was a large zellij shower room.

 It had a private balcony with seating and there was a separate seating area. 

The only thing missing was a fridge in the room although there wasa manual for one in the desk drawer. The balcony had views over the gardens

The outside summer restaurant gave plenty of scope for begging peafowl and resident cats.

It served standard moroccan offering but better cooked than most places and the salads were lovely ; I must try to emulate the quince boiled with honey.

And then there was the swimming pool to die for and as it was 30C just warm enough to cool off once you got in.

Pasha Hida

Pasha Hida controlled the Sousse Valley during the later half of the 19C and early 20C. He allied with the Glaoui to control the Tizi n' Test at the commencement of the Protectorate but was killed, at an advanced age, in 1917 in a war down in Sidi Ifni. 

He had three main palaces in the valley. The one at Taroudant now being the Palais Salaam Hotel. We went 40 km east to Ouled Berhil where on the outskirts of town , next to the Lycee, 

we turned round and found

Riad Hida was built by the Pasha in 1860 and he occupied it till his death. In 1960 it was bought from the family by a danish millionaire who lived there until his death in 2001 when he left it to a Moroccan man who had served him for a long time and operated it as a restaurant and tea room until it opened as a hotel in 2014. 

It has beautiful gardens and we had been brought here previously by the teacher. when he first qualified he taught for 3 years at the lycee befor moving to Mohammed V in Taroudant. At the end of the day he liked to take a cup of tea in the gardens to de-stress.

Hibiscus Flowers

Beloved always complains that our hibiscus hedge never flowers but he can't complain now, although whether it can currently be called a hedge is a moot point.

 Some hard pruning seems required.

 It has not been desperately hot while we've been away, 30s mostly and we were confidently expecting 31C yesterday. The pilot told us it was going to be quite hot , 34C, but revised that when we arrived to 41C. Still it's 13C in Wales and I know where I'd rather be.

 The plants have mostly managed quite well and the new plant for which I used lots of water retaining gel has done tremendously well.

 I forgot to put any in the banana and it's suffering somewhat.

Fly Air Arabia

We had heard that Air Arabia flew Manchester-Agadir last year but already had our flights booked so yesterday was our first opportunity to use them and it was wonderful. Firstly they were daytime flights; we could leave home in Wales at 9am and be home in Taroudant at 6.30 pm. Secondly their pricing structure meant having 30kg of luggage each was comparable to Easyjet and we got a free meal. Best of all there was an airbridge and the      seat spacing on the plane gave extra legroom to all so it was much more comfortable. The food was good too, better than BA and as I was going off rapidly I had an extra Chicken and Lemon sandwich which was soooo good I must learn the recipe.

Sadly they seem to have discontinued the route from November. Come on Air Arabia now Thomas Cook's defunct re-instate the route! If any of you  out there are lucky enough to have an Air Arabia route give it a spin.