Les rochers peints

For some bizarre reason, in 1984 a Belgian guy by the name of Jean Verame decided to paint some Moroccan rocks blue, apparently as a tribute to his late wife.  He had help from the local fire service, and used 18 tons of paint.

To us, it seemed somewhat pointless, and perhaps even vandalism.  The natural colour of the rocks of the Anti-Atlas is a delightful red.

But a visit to these rocks was just a part of our day.

We started with a visit to La Maison Traditionelle at Oumesnat, where we were shown round by Mustafa, speaking pretty good English.  He introduced us to many aspects of traditional life in Morocco.  We were then treated to a tea ceremony and some music.  And after that, lunch on the Terrace of the guest house run by the same family - vegetable couscous - a huge portion, but by far the most tasty that we have had so far.

Then we visited the Blue rocks, and in passing admired various named rock formations - the Elephant Head, and Le Chapeau de Napoleon.

We finished up by visiting the Gazelle rock carving - a prehistoric carving that is a much more impressive bit of art that the Blue rocks.