BEACHpresent. Before you leave, don’t miss the exotic Sultan’s Garden off the main courtyard,
opposite the entrance, which was being restored at the time of research.
YOU CAN’T BEAT TANGIER
The Beat Generation was a post-WWII American counterculture movement that combined visceral engagement in worldly
experiences with a quest for deeper understanding. It reached its apotheosis in Tangier. Many Beat artists – writer Jack
Kerouac, and poets Allen Ginsberg and Gregory Curso – were just passing through, while writers William Burroughs and Paul
Bowles, and the multitalented Brion Gysin, spent significant parts of their lives here, further inspiring a coterie of local artists.
The result was a mixed bag, from the heights of artistic creativity to the lows of moral depravity. Today Beat history can still be
found throughout the city:
» » Hotel el-Muniria William Burroughs wrote The Naked Lunch, his biting satire of the modern American mind, here.
Originally titled ‘Interzone’, the book was written in the cut-up technique developed by Brion Gysin. Ginsberg and Kerouac also
shacked up here in 1957.
» » Tanger Inn Photos of Beat customers abound on the walls of this bar below the el-Muniria.
» » Café Central Burroughs’ principal hang-out on the Petit Socco, where he sized up his louche opportunities.
» » 1001 Nights Offline map Google map A legendary cafe in the kasbah established by Brion Gysin, also known for his
Dreamachine, a kinetic work of art that induces a trance-like condition. The cafe was famous for its house band of trance
musicians, the Master Musicians of Jajouka, who released a record produced by the Rolling Stones’ Brian Jones. It has been
‘closed for renovations’ for years.
» » Tangier American Legation Museum Houses a wing dedicated to Paul Bowles.
» » Hotel Continental Scenes from the movie version of Paul Bowles’ The Sheltering Sky were filmed here.
» » Café Hafa Paul Bowles and the Rolling Stones came here to smoke hashish.
» » Gran Café De Paris The main literary salon during the Interzone, it also drew Tennessee Williams and Truman Capote.VILLE NOUVELLE
With its Riviera architecture and colonial ambience, the area around Pl de France and Blvd
Pasteur still hints at the glamour of the 1930s. It’s a popular place for an early evening
promenade, or a few hours sipping mint tea in one of the many streetside cafes – particularly
the landmark Gran Café de Paris, whose retro facade is screaming to be captured on canvas.
Where is that Tangier expat Matisse when we need him?
Next door is the aptly named Terrasse des Paresseux Offline map Google map (Idlers’ Terrace;Click here ) , which provides sweeping views of the port and, on a clear day, Gibraltar and
Spain. A set of ancient cannons faces the bay, symbolically warding off usurpers.
Nearby you’ll find Librairie des Colonnes Offline map( 54 Blvd Pasteur; 9.30am-1pm & 4-
7pm Mon-Sat) . This bookshop, an absolute institution in Tangier, was once the haunt of Paul
Bowles, Jean Genet, Samuel Becket and William Burroughs. It has recently reopened after
renovation, and today you might bump into Tahar Ben Jelloun or Bernard Henri-Levy.
Town Beach
The wide town beach (Offline map) has been improved – it’s actually cleanest in the bustling
summer. In any case, locals advise that it is still not clean enough for swimming, particularly the
section closest to the port. It works well for a seaside stroll, however, and the new corniche