Trip to Morocco in October 2007

From Stephanie Copeland at The Mount. Visit http://www.edithwharton.org and http://www.edithwharton.org/events/toursabroad-morocco.php for more details about this trip.

It is with great pleasure that I invite you to join us in retracing Edith Wharton’s 1917 journey through Morocco, the mysterious sun-drenched land she likened to the pages of an “illuminated Persian manuscript all embroidered with bright shapes and subtle lines.”

Wharton was mesmerized by Morocco, a crossroads of East and West and a kingdom as geographically diverse as it is culturally rich. Her fascination with this country is often overlooked, but the awe with which she greeted its vast deserts, high mountains, palm oases, and groves of citrus and olive trees is undeniable. She reveled in Morocco’s rich architectural tradition and fastidiously studied the customs of its inhabitants. Like Wharton, we will travel to the red and white cities of Rabat and Salé, medieval Fes, the Roman ruins of Volubilis, and legendary Marrakech, and we will even have the rare opportunity to explore a remote Berber village in the Atlas mountains.

World War I was raging when Wharton traveled the country in a military motorcar… without even a guidebook, as no guidebook had yet been written. Thankfully we can now rely on her 1920 travelogue, In Morocco. Using her groundbreaking essays as a guide, we will travel as Wharton traveled, with the very best in food and lodging and informed by expert tour leaders.

The Mount is collaborating with Piotr Kostrzewski of Cross Cultural Adventures to create a highly specialized, intimate tour of Morocco’s cultural and artistic treasures. Mr. Kostrzewski is a longtime admirer of Wharton’s travel book and has been leading customized tours of Morocco for twenty-five years, opening doors to private homes, palaces and gardens unattainable to any but the most privileged. Wharton experts from The Mount will be on hand to discuss Edith Wharton’s life and work in the context of her travels, providing unknown glimpses of both the great novelist and the country so rarely associated with her.

Edith Wharton’s Morocco offers participants the singular opportunity to see Morocco through Edith Wharton’s eyes. Space is limited to twenty-five travelers, so I encourage you to return the enclosed reservation form as soon as possible.

I hope you will join us October 13 – 25, 2007.