Franschhoek

One of my favourite books is “Gone with the wind”.

There is something about the grandeur of life in the South, the almost innocent selfishness of the inhabitants that always intrigued me. Some slaves accepted their fate, far from Africa, and were very loyal to their “owners”. This lead me to reading an array of other books with the focus on slavery, one that stood out was “Beloved” by Toni Morrison. But wait, I am diverging.

View over the valley from the R45

Franschhoek is a town with a very rich history. The valley was originally settled in 1688 by almost 200 French Huguenot refugees. They escaped religious prosecution in France by fleeing to Africa and were given land by the Dutch Government.

Looking back over R45

The area they settled in were soon known as the French corner.

We went to Franschhoek to take a couple of American tourists out to dinner.

As always I had to find a dog and child friendly place and my choice fell on Lekkerwijn.

Lekkerwijn

Friends!

We stayed in the Ballroom and wow, the accommodation was magnificent. The main bedroom had a massive bed. I felt like a plane coming in to land on that bed! Jessie immediately made friends with the resident Labrador. They played and entertained each other for the rest of the weekend.

Friday night dinner was at Colcacchio pizzeria. I had the vegetarian option called “green genie”, a wood-fired pizza feast of roasted garlic, butternut and beetroot, shiitake mushrooms, rocket, avo, Parmesan, feta, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds and balsamic glaze. It was the best pizza I've ever had!

The following day we went to the Huguenot museum. It is situated on beautiful grounds with a delightful little coffee shop. BB wanted something plain and familiar so we had toasted sandwiches and scones. It was delicious and freshly made.

Huguenot Museum

Blossoms at museum

We drove around to some of the wine farms and admired the lovely views.

Zorgvliet

For afternoon tea we stopped at the Hillcrest Berry Orchard restaurant in the Banhoek Valley. They boast beyond belief views across the valley to the Groot Drakenstein and Jonkershoek mountains. I can highly recommend the cheesecake.

Cheesecake at Hillcrest Berry orchard

I bought enough food for BB for dinner as well as she was staying with a babysitter at Lekkerwijn while we took the American couple out to dinner.

Garden at Lekkerwijn

Dinner. Wow. I was nervous about choosing Pierneef A La Motte. I've never been there and had to trust my gut feel. (Yeah..gut..dinner..meal..I get it!)

I soon relaxed and realized I could not have made a better choice. (The couple already went to the Taste Kitchen from Margo Jansen.) It is the small attention to detail that makes a restaurant. My mum was straining her eyes to read the menu..within seconds the waiter returned with a selection of reading glasses! The presentation was out of this world. Sauces were made to look like berries hanging of a branch. Small tasters of what was not ordered were served. In-between we were served true South African drinks like Amarula in minute bottles.

We all ordered different food, ranging from rolled lamb ribs, pork belly to a vegetarian pumpkin tart. There were no complaints..only admiration and loads of ooh and aahs.

When dessert came I had no space, but our new American friends chose the milktart, an oh so South African favourite.

It was a great night out but we were happy to return to our bit of luxury.

The next morning we had to head home, but not before visiting Babylonstoren.

Lovely gardens at Babylonstoren

First though..let me return to where I started this blog. Scarlett had a faithful help called Mammy. When I booked out of Lekkerwijn, I had to go to the main house. A grand elderly lady in a crisp white and black uniform opened the door. I followed her through this grand old homestead, passed a grand piano, perfect cutlery and old Victorian furniture. All while walking on shiny wooden floors. Well, I felt like Scatlett O' Hara following Mammy!

Garlic loaf at Babylonstoren

Back to Babylonstoren. The gardens are amazing..the only thing more amazing are the stunning breads they sell. I chose a garlic loaf with a lovely whole garlic in the middle and baked to caramelized perfection.

Unfortunately the restaurants were fully booked, so we had brunch at Vrede en Lust, another feast for the eyes and taste buds.

Brunch at Lust Bistro and Bakery

I was sad to leave Franschhoek..and will most definitely return..I just have to exercises a bit to loose all the gained weight!

Quaint house near Franschhoek

Calitzdorp blossoms

We are privileged to live in the Garden Route, South Africa.  The wonderful Karoo is less than an hour's drive away, how lucky can one be?!

Please join my daughter and I as we discover this part of the country, often with our friends.

Spring is an amazing array of soft colours everywhere.

De Kranz at Calitzdorp opened their orchards for a spring festival end of August 2014.  You can adopt and plant a vine shoot, all proceeds go to a little school for the local community.

Costs:  R10 per shoot

Meal:  R65 per person

Cocktails:  R25 each

Flea market with several lovely goodies; croissants, almond tarts, chocolate salami, bread, olive products, herbs, jams, etc

Various bottles of wine for sale at affordable prices

Matjiesvlei

The last straw..the straw that broke the camel’s back.  I often wonder what was the final straw that made me decide to start travelling alone.  Somewhere among over reacting over a runny nose, ill-temper, ducks(!), motorbikes, disrespect, lack of future plans, laziness, lies, facebook (!!!!) and issues I will rather not mention, I’ve decided enough is enough.  G4 was replaced by a rescue dog and now we are girls travelling alone with our dog. 

One of the first places we visited was Matjiesvlei  near Calitzdorp.  There is a turnoff just outside Calitzdorp on the R62 as you travel towards Ladismith.

We stayed in Douglas House at Matjiesvlei Guest Farm.  http://www.matjiesvlei.co.za/accom.php  It sleeps 6 in 3 bedrooms.  There is one bathroom (shower only) and a lovely farm style kitchen with a huge fireplace.  Bedding and towels are provided.  There is no electricity, so nights are spend in front of the kitchen fire playing board games.They are dog friendly by prior arrangement and there is no cellphone reception..bliss!

Matjiesvlei has a rich history. Originally it belonged to Michael Le Grange. Once upon a time there were about 25 families living in Matjiesvlei.  There were two schools and a Post Office with the only phone in the area.  The Post Office building is still there today and beautifully restored.

The Old Post Office is a short walk away.  You have you own key for the Post Office making it possible to visit whenever you feel like it.  It was fun for BB to see an old phone, bed and books.

Our house was lovely..there are two “stoepe” to choose from, enabling you to follow,  or hide, from the sun.   The one had a lovely view over a stream where you can watch the baboons frolicking in the trees or mountain tortoises slowly making their way across the clearing.

The other overlooks the dirt road where tractors wind their way down to the valley.

We had a lovely stay and cannot wait to return for another weekend in paradise.