Franschoek

Two days in Franschoek and Stellenbosch--known to most as the beautiful wine country of South Africa. It was pure relaxation and we were surrounded with so much natural beauty. Our photos again cannot capture how lovely it was to stay in Franschoek.

We chose to stay at La Petite Firme, translating in French to The Small Farm. It was a very quaint B&B which offered us lovely views, food, and wine.


We arrived at lunch time, and La Petite Firme is known for its lunches. We decided to start with an arugula and beet salad.

Then, Paul decided to have Thumper for lunch. The poor bunny was served on a bed of mustard mash--a new favorite for me--but Paul does not care for it to much. Personally, I think a good mustard goes well with any type of food.

I ordered filet Mignon served on top of caramelized Camembert with a cranberry reduction and topped with arugula. It was lovely, but I thought I was going to have a heart attach after eating such a heavy dish!

After our lunch at La Petite, we ordered some rooibos tea and enjoyed the stunning afternoon view.

Ok, we came here to wine taste. So we head out to Graham Beck to try some bubbly and their whites. We left with the nice bubbly! Graham Beck was one of our favorite stops in the region.

We go back to the chalet, and we are greeted with this amazing view.

I told Paul after lunch I could not even think about eating another meal, and besides, how could we leave all this beauty. Luckily, we stopped at a Pick'N'Pay on the way back to the farm to purchase some crackers to go with the homemade cheese we picked up at Asara Farm. Pick'N'Pay is the local version of a Farmer Jack grocery store, and honestly when you have not been inside a proper grocery store in almost a year it becomes one of the highlights of your vacation to peruse the aisles. I made Paul cancel the reservation at Reubens (Sorry Paul!) and we decided to hang out on the patio to enjoy the sunset. Here Pauly is bringing out a bottle of white we bought at La Petite that afternoon. We had a nice plunge pool, but it was a bit too cold to try to take a dip.

The aforementioned bottle of white . . .

The sunset . . . followed by the stars amd crickets singing. We have not seen stars since we were home last September, so it was a real treat.
The parm and brie we bought earlier . . .

And our Tuc crackers from Pick'N'Pay!

The next morning we work early and ventured out to the Stellenbosch area. Our first stop was Vergelegen, translated in Afrikaans it means 'Situated Far Away.' Willem Adriaan van der Stel started this vineyard back in 1700 and though the ownership has changed hands it is still running. The governor chose this place as it was 'situated far away' from the cape and his duties in Cape Town. It offers stunning views and some good wine.

We went on our first cellar tour of the area here at Vergelegen . . .

Another view from Vergelegen . . .
After we were finished at Vergelegen, we ventured over to the neighboring Morgenster farm for wine and olive oil tasting. Then, off to lunch at Tokara. Aside from Graham Beck, Tokara was our absolute favorite and a must for anyone going out to the wine country. Again, the views are stunning, the food is outstanding, and the wine was the best we had! Here is a view from our lunch table at Tokara. The vines are actually on the opposite hill to the right.
At this point, I told Paul I could only tolerate one more wine tasting today if he wanted to make it to dinner this evening. So we decided to go to Warwick Estates. At Warwick, they have a special wedding day cup. The fable says that the duke of the land said if a man could make a cup that both the groom and the bride could drink from and not a single drop of wine spill, then that man could marry his daughter. Since the silversmith was already in love with the daughter, he made such a cup. Below you can see Paul and I drinking from it, and it surprisingly works--not a drop is spilled!
We left Warwick feeling warm and fuzzy after hearing such a nice story about the duke's daughter and the silversmith. We came back to the chalet to view this amazing sunset.

We freshened up a bit and then off to dinner at ICI at Le Quartier Francais. Back to La Petite early as we have a 5 am flight out the next morning to Jo'Burg and then off to Krueger National Park for safari!