A very good girl friend of mine and some of her female friends went last year and RAVED about it and the people. I remember her telling me about Damacus and ? the Blue Mosque.
The locals were soooo welcoming and delighted to have tourists in the region.
Of course there are risks attached to going. but the rewards are great.
If I were you I would get Mrs Purple to wear a head scarf...so any head bangers (a tiny minority) assume you are muslim tourists.
Look up the thorn tree forum on
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/forum.jspa?forumID=18&keywordid=81 , they'll have lots of relevant info for you...Good Luck.