Franschhoek

 

Next stop Franschhoek. Another of the main wine towns in the west Cape region and based on other peoples opinions, the most picturesque. We travelled via the Helshoogte pass which is a scenic mountain pass between Stellenbosch and Franschhoek. 

On journey we stopped to meet a friend of Janice’s who she played hockey with 30 years ago. Yvette and her husdand were orginally from South Africa, so they decided to take their children back home. This was over 10 years ago with the plan to build a mushroom farm. This seems to be an all consuming business, but they are clearly enjoying life living on the Pearl Valley Golf estate. The course was designed by Jack Nicolas and still carry’s his name.A stunning course within a very secure location. Its members include Geoff Boycott, who is one of the many brits referred to a swallows who own on Pearl valley and stay for the UK winter months. As Yvette took us on a guided tour, you quickly understood the attraction.

They live only 15 minutes from Franschhoek and our Airbnb, so the drive was very easy. We are staying on the Le Provence vineyard, which is a family run working vineyard, who sell most of their grapes and makes very little wine. Our room is designed in the style of an african hut, which is a lot of fun, but a lot different from our large room on the Nambiti game reserve. Our hosts are lovely and their grounds are stunning, with well trained dogs roaming around to keep us company.

 

Franschhoek is famous for its wine and has a number of beautiful restaurants which are often fully booked. We had booked the Protege restaurant while in the UK. A high end dinning experience, where we sat overlooking the kitchen as they cooked the food. Wonderful food and wine, as well as fascinating to see the calmness of the kitchen as they prepared the complex dinners. Once again, the cost was a fraction of an equivalent restaurant in the UK.

One of the primary tourist attractions in Franschhoek is their wine Tram. It uses the old railway to take people between the different vineyards. It actually uses a combination of trams and buses which are built in the style of the tram to move between the vineyards. As lot of fun. The first trams starts at 10am and they finish around 5:30 pm, so it can get a little messy, especially when hot. Each stop is around an hour, so in reality you visit around four or five vineyards. We made it to four, starting at the Mont Rochelle, which is owned by Sir Richard Branson. On reflection our favourite vineyard, but the others were also very nice.

 

Then back to our vineyard and our African hut for a swim in their pool and a traditional South African Braai, which is their name for a BBQ. We were joined by our new friend. Once the coals were hot, our Ribs cooked quickly as the sun set. It was a lovely way to finish the day.