#franshhoek

[angieandphil]

Stellenbosch and Franshhoek

We head from hot sticky Cape Town into the mountains and vineyards to Stellenbosch. One wine tasting and a trip round an archaeological/ history museum going through the lives of the previous owners and workers at Solms Delta winery. Franshoek is very nice everything is ‘boutique’ but nice buildings and galleries and laid back.

[tremble-indignation]

Why is the rum gone? . . . . . . #franshhoek #wine #tours #day #drinking #sunnyskies (at ROCA Restaurant on Dieu Donne Wine Farm) https://www.instagram.com/p/B2RLD0dHXFmxWKFs1lhwz4sYR_VZ4PUcpj3PyE0/?igshid=hirn5cbdlh0s

[inspiringplacesandesign]

Fri 2nd March -  On Route to the Winelands and Cape Town

We left beautiful Arniston with a heavy heart and clouds on the horizon as we started the final leg of our journey.

We headed back to Bredasdorp and then onto an intriguing little town called Napier, founded in 1838. Our guide calls it a very sleepy little place and indeed the town's motto is "Slow Time and Live Life Deliberately". This could be a ggood "mindfulness" retreat. Despite that we could see some very pretty restaurants, and shops in varying architectural styles and colours. Here too is a large Duthc Reform church and also an Ox Wagon monument to the Great Tek of 1838. Th monument was erected in 1988.

Onwards past quite uninteresting landscapes as this is wheat country but it is not planted yet. As ever, in the distance, rolling hills. I really hadn't appreciated how mountainous this country is - but then we are coverning the most scenic parts of it.

We had the most intriguig stop in the middle of knowhere for a coffee - a place called Dassiesfontein. It is possibly the biggest junk/decor/general store I or any of us have ever seen in our life! it is packed to the top with home decor, a wine store, food, clothes, cards ec etc. A tru hunter's delight.

Back to beautiful mountains as we carrid on through the lvely twists and turns of teh Franschhoek Pass. The viewpoint at the top gave us stunning views of the franschhoek vaally. This are was given over to the French huguenots in 1694 by the Dutch East India Company and is now one of the most beautiful places in teh Winelands. There are now some 20 Estates here, and it has kept some of its French ancestry by celebrating Bastille Day but also its top notch cuisine.

We slowly drove past the beautiful Huguenot Memorial and along the main street of Franschhoek. This must be the prettiest main street I have seen in a long long time. Architecturally beautiful buildings housing interestng, and renkowned cafes, restaurants and lovely boutiques. It would be paradise to spend a couple of days wandering up and down this street, although I suspect some of these restaurants are booked months in advance.

so then onto the N1 for our final destination: Cape Town. As we were early, our guide Jill, wanted us to try and see if we could go up Table Mountain, but it had been closed earlier in the day. Happily they had re-opened it so off we went. More later.

[qmak]

I am so happy for my brother on this special day I will remember forever #SAinSA #tothemaks #brotherlylove #blessedday #feelingblessed #joy #happiness #family #weddingday #franshhoek #southafrica (at Grande Provence Heritage Wine Estate)

[capestudies]

Learn or improve English and enjoy South African winelands! www.CapeStudies.com Drive through the picturesque landscape of #Stellenbosch and Franschhoek among mountains and vineyards and taste the different aromas and flavours perceived in our wines. #CapeStudiesOutdoors #CapeWinelands #WineTrip #SouthAfricanWines #travel #CapeStudies #CapeTown #Sudafrica #SouthAfrica #travel #StudyAbroad #Stellenbosch #Franshhoek #trip #wine #WineLover #WineTasting #CiudadDelCabo #WesternCape #RedWine #WhiteWine #vino #vin #TagForLikes #TagForLikesApp #instafollow

[richardgradner]

#franshhoek #wedding #onlysimchas #spring #capetown #love #gillis

[cusco3300]

#franshhoek (at Grand Provence - Franschhoek)

[wontsleeptilbrooklyn]

on november 1st, we left cape town & headed for wine country. about 30-45 minutes east of cape town, south african vineyards sprawl far & wide. there are several different areas but the most well known one is stellenbosch. slightly further east of stellenbosch is frankschhoek, and in between both of these two regions to the north is the area called paarl (pronounced parle). we stayed in the middle of those three towns at an a very cool 200 year old estate that had been turned into a bed & breakfast called lekkerwijn (prounounced lecker-vein...pics 1&2).

we arrived via uber (it cost only $30 for the hour ride), though you can take the train out to the region as well for most likely much cheaper (we were feeling pretty exhausted after a few very busy days, and felt like we could splurge a bit since it was still so incredibly affordable). it turns out that we were pretty much in the middle of nowhere, so when we asked the man in charge there for the evening for recommendations for dinner nearby without a car, he offered to drive us to the local gas station to pick up some food to cook at the market (yet again another example of the incredibly friendly people we have met on this trip). making a home cooked meal in a big old kitchen was an awesome way to start off our little relaxing long weekend in the wine valley.

the next day we walked around to several of the wineries (blue allee and boschendele for anyone interested in googling the names; pics 3&4) that were pretty much next door to where we were staying and offered some really gorgeous views...and delicious wine of course! we then decided to uber up to the fairview vineyards (pic 5) that we kept hearing about again and again. they had a really cheap wine & cheese tasting and the area where you did your tasting looked like the person pouring the wine was inside an oak barrel with vines above them for lighting (i wish i had taken a picture to better describe this as it was much cooler than it sounds) & two house goats that live in a castle like tower in front of the building. we ended the evening with dinner in paarl before heading back to our fancy abode to relax and enjoy our giant fancy room and catch up on some TV from home (a nice treat after 4 days sharing a room in a hostel with 4 other people).

the frankschhoek area was established by the french (the name in afrikaans means french corner) and has a wine tram that runs around to bring you to various vineyards, which was very exciting considering we had had some difficulty getting around the day before without a car (uber worked more in the busier stellenbosch area & also not all the wineries has wifi for us to request a ride). anyways, clearly this french established area was high on my list to explore, so we went into town on tuesday and boarded the tram (which is basically a bus that LOOKS like a tram, but cute and convenient none the less). it stopped at 6 wineries along the route (pics 5-10), giving us enough time to have a tasting at each one for about an hour. most of the wineries had deals for those on the wine trams, so the tastings were even cheaper than they already were. we had a great day enjoying the amazing views (the winery dieu donne had the best ones overlooking the valley), making friends with the people on our tram (we met an awesome australian family that we hope to see when we make our way there in a few months!), and of course drank lots of good wine!

All in all and amazing relaxing few days in wine country. happy that there are a ton of more areas & wineries to explore on future South African adventures! Note: I probably spelled everything wrong in this post. We have had such a hard time having internet in Africa and also this stupid blog platform eats 9 out of 10 posts that I put up so APOLOGIES I'm kind of losing it with technology lately. :)