Tales From Tangier
Tangier has long been a favourite bolthole for diplomats, musicians, artists and literary greats. The atmosphere of espionage associated with the city is legendary. It’s a land of mystery and wonder crawling with socialites, heirs and royalty. Over the weekend we immersed ourselves in the enchanting foreign community of this cosmopolitan city…
On Saturday we spent a lazy day at the villa of one of the city’s most flamboyant residents, thanks to our wonderful friends Lucas and Amina from Journey Beyond Travel. David Herbert was a writer and socialite who spent most of his latter life in Tangier. A descendant of the 15th Earl of Pembroke, his sister was a dowager and lady-in-waiting to the Queen Mother. As an important figure in Tangier’s social life, Herbert was referred to by Ian Fleming as 'the Queen of Tangier'. He also counted the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Sir Winston Churchill and Malcolm Forbes amongst his friends.
Perched up on the hillside of the New Mountain, Dar Kharoubia is the colourful villa where Herbert held frequent lavish parties. And although he passed away 25 years ago, it is still filled to the brim with his elaborate pieces of furniture. The walls are splashed with bright pink, deep green and vivid blue, and hold a multitude of framed pictures and artwork. There are frescos in the Garden Terrace. British royals adorn the walls. The bookshelves are crammed with his personal collection of yellowing tomes and double-stacked weathered pages.
And so, we escaped the heat of the African summer sun to this little oasis for the day. We poked around the belongings of Mr Herbert and mused on the raucous parties that used to take place here. If these walls could talk! We took lunch in the tropical garden while imagining the pet peacocks and monkeys that used to roam the lush surrounds. And we reflected on the unexpectedness of finding ourselves amongst the dusty possessions of such an eccentric and important piece of the social scene in this heady city.
On Sunday we were generously invited for lunch at the home of Pin Affleck, an Australian designer who found herself in Tangier by way of Paris a few years ago. Her bright and airy Art Deco apartment is the perfect backdrop for the colourful textiles she creates under the banner Made In Tangier, in collaboration with the local weavers of Fondouk Cheira. (And Pin graciously sent us on our way with the four hammam towels from her very stylish new “Summer in Tangier” range. Squee!)
We gathered around the weather-beaten table in her kitchen amongst the eclectic mix of Moroccan crockery, framed prints, hanging utensils and mismatched chairs. A feast of local dishes was delivered straight from a neighbouring restaurant to the kitchen table by a waiter in a bowtie. An electrician pottered in the background restoring power to the flat while over a long lunch Pin plied us with bottles of wine and a riot of salacious gossip, most of which cannot be repeated here! Colourful lives and modern-day scandals being lived out in this romantic North African city.
Tangier’s strategic location and international status have always given rise to a foreign community of vibrant personalities. The city can name-drop better than most. From Mick Jagger to Jack Kerouac, Anthony Bourdain to Mark Twain, Matisse to Yves Saint Laurant - the list goes on. All of these enigmatic characters came to the city for the sense of freedom that it offered outside of Europe or the USA. Ironic since we can’t manage to escape the place. Still, things could be worse!