The sun was beginning to set, flooding the citrus orchards and olive groves with a flaming, gold light.
It was an Israeli settlement before the war in 2008, mainly filled with farms of olive and lemon groves that are under Israeli army fire now.
Ouarzazate makes an excellent base for exploring the Dades Valley, with its pink villages and lush palm groves, and the Draa Valley's awesome Todra Gorge.
Among rose gardens, olive groves and a vegetable patch lies a 27-room hotel (built in the Berber rammed earth style known as pisé) with two good restaurants, several pools (including one for children), an artisan workshop offering pottery classes for children, two tennis courts and a spa.
It is an undeniably beautiful part of the world; a seductive combination of sea, lemon groves, vineyards and towns imbued with the faded grandeur of a gracefully ageing ballerina.
But when the planes struck the centre of Damascus, we had to flee to Daraya, south-west of the capital, where we hid among the groves, laboriously digging trenches, waiting for the soldiers to advance forward.
He was not disappointed by the stylishness of the Avenue Habib Bourguiba, the main artery in Tunis, the olive groves and the sheer gorgeousness of the island of Djerba (where 19 tourists were killed in an al-Qaida attack in 2002).
Ryanair (ryanair.com) flies from various UK airports to Faro from £61 November high: 17C A traditional farmhouse surrounded by olive groves and vineyards is the setting for a four-day gourmet olive break which promises to immerse guests in the specialities of Le Marche region in all its autumn glory.
Come here for horse riding, star gazing or unwinding by the lovely pool with its views of olive groves and the snow-capped Djebel Toubkal.
Another year we stayed in a trullo, a whitewashed, conical house among olive groves just outside Alberobello in Puglia.
The stunning south Goa coast from the Sal river to Agonda beach, on a winding hilly road takes in temples, coconut groves, fishing villages, the old fort of Cabo de Rama, and a host of hidden beaches.
