Masterpiece by Majorelle

The vivid primary colours of the structures caught the author's eye. Pictures supplied.

It was 40 degrees-plus and I was submerged up to my nose in a cool pool when my friend Margy suggested we use the few hours of leisure we had before our organised tour of Morocco began, to visit a garden.

Sigh! A snooze on a shady lounger to fend off impending jetlag was on my agenda but Margy had been raving about the famous Jardin Majorelle in Marrakech for some time so I nobly agreed to go with her.

After a short, fast taxi ride through the baking hot streets of Marrakech, we arrived at the garden. Jardin Majorelle lived up to Margy’s high praise. I found the place mesmerising.

The garden was created by expatriate French artist and amateur botanist Jacques Majorelle in the 1920s and 1930s during the colonial period when Morocco was a protectorate of France. For almost 40 years, Majorelle planted new varieties from all five continents. The garden rather than his paintings became his chef-d'œuvre, his masterpiece.

Open to the public since 1947, the garden covers two and a half acres with winding pathways connecting exotic plants, marble pools, rills, fountains, colonnades, pavillions, grottos, a Berber museum, cafe and boutique.

When Majorelle died in 1962, the garden fell into disrepair but in 1980 it was bought and restored by French fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent and his partner Pierre Bergé.

There’s a memorial in the garden to Yves Saint Laurent and his ashes were scattered there when he died in 2008.

Impressive as the cactii, palms, bamboo, water lillies, weeping willows, thugas, carobs, agaves, jasmine, ferns and bougainvilleas are, it was not so much the plants and landscaping that took my eye but the vivid primary colours of the structures. Dominated by a special shade of bold cobalt blue named “bleu Majorelle” in honour of the artist, the intensity of the colours was astonishing.

I expected hordes and heat at the garden but it was surprisingly quiet and peaceful with just the trickling sound of fountains and the chirping of many different species of birds. And it was quite cool in the shade of the immense towering palms.

I’m pleased Margy was so persuasive. Jardin Majorelle is stunning — I felt like I had spent the afternoon inside an exotic painting.

• Justine Tyerman travelled on an Ancient Kingdoms tour with Moroccan specialists, The Innovative Travel Company, a New Zealand company that designs tailor-made tours to suit individual tastes and budgets.www.innovativetravel.co.nz

• Justine flew Emirates Airlines from Auckland to Casablanca. www.emirates.com