On an average day the local town of Asni (around 10 kms from L’Amandier) is bustling and the shopkeepers do a brisk trade with the local community. But on Saturdays it really comes alive. Saturday is market day. People from all the surrounding areas make the trip into town to sell their produce, catch up with old friends, buy the essentials, and generally have a sociable and, hopefully, profitable day.

It’s a fascinating place from an outsider’s perspective and gives a window of insight into the lives of the local Berber people and the simplicity of life in the foothills of the Atlas Mountains.

Entering the market place through the arched gate transports you to, what could be considered, past times. A place where most produce has been brought directly from the land to the market that day, usually by donkey. A place where fresh earth cakes the recently-dug potatoes, and the herbs are piled in huge fragrant bundles. A place where people old and young take the time to chat about families, the state of the world, needs, wants, successes and failures; their lined faces creasing in smiles that reveal a lack of accessible dentistry.

A place where the ‘car’ park is a little more organic…

And the farriers do a roaring trade in new shoes for the donkeys…

A place where the vegetables are fresh…

And the meat is freshly butchered….

In fact, often the ‘meat’ is still alive.

A place to buy new panniers for the family transport…

Or new tagines for the family kitchen…

A place to get your weekly shave with a cut-throat razor.

The future residents or guests at L’Amandier will come to know it well and, although there are large hypermarkets in Marrakech supplying everything to satisfy European needs, they may just find that they come to prefer the shopping experience in Asni and the freshly baked bread and the locally grown produce.

Related posts:

1. Where it all began
2. Searching beyond Marrakech property market
3. Meet the Team