Woke at 7. Didn't sleep well and had dreamed I was being arrested for speeding in SA.
Got up at 8. It was raining, cool and cloudy. Felt a bit grotty this morning, felt like I might be getting a cold, had a scratchy throat.
Roy smashed a glass while we were packing so that delayed us somewhat as we had to find a maid to help us clear it up.
By 10.30am, when we left the Waterfront, the weather was just starting to clear up a bit. We didn't go straight to Franschhoek, but did a quick detour to Bloubergstrand - a beach over the other side of Table Bay where you get stunning views of Table Mountain. This morning the tablecloth was definitely on!
We were in Franschhoek for lunchtime. It is an easy drive, mostly on motorway. The only thing to watch out for is men running across the freeway! Whilst three lanes of traffic are bombing along at 80 - 120km per hour. Crazy.
Franschhoek is gorgeous. Truly gorgeous. A quiet, well kept, beautiful village. It seems like you're surrounded by mountains. Once in the village, you wonder how you got in there as you feel totally encircled by the hills.
Akademie Street Guesthouses are everything that Tripadvisor promised!
http://www.aka.co.za/
Our cottage is Vreugde, meaning Joy. And it was. There is a kitchenette, fridge stocked with champagne, spirits, beer, juice, and a tray of fruit. We also have crisps and nuts. And the bed is huge and extremely comfortable. Somehow, I don't think we'll be using the lovely plunge pool in our private garden, which is a huge shame.
We took a walk into the country - Katharine, our host, gave us a map for a nice walk - and went through vineyards and past stables to an estate called Grande Provence.
http://www.grandeprovence.co.za/
We stopped there for our first wine tasting session. We planned to eat there, but there was nothing "light" on the menu and as we only wanted a salad or some cheese, we decided to carry on. Back in the village, we turned off toward Chamonix - guess what? Another bloody big hill to walk up! But we knew that they had a restaurant and so we could combine lunch and wine tasting. When we finally reached the restaurant, it had just started to absolutely bucket down with rain. A lady came out and apologetically told us that the restaurant and kitchen had just closed. But that there was another wine estate with a restaurant just another 200m up the hill. I refused to walk another step further (uphill). In fact I threw a tantrum at Roy. I can get like that when I'm hungry!
http://www.chamonix.co.za/
Because of the rain, and my complete refusal to walk any further up the hill, we decided to go in to Chamonix Tasting Room - which was still open. For R20 (just over a pound) we got to taste 4 different wines and also a schnapps. They were not stingy when they filled the tasting glasses either! So - we ended up having a liquid lunch. The wines were good - we bought some - and then we more or less rolled down the hill and back to our guest house. The rain had stopped by now. Back in our room, we ate some nuts and crisps to tide us over until dinner.
Dinner was booked for le Bon Vivant. It was very good - but I was surprised at how empty it was in there, as we'd been told to book well ahead of our visit. Only about 6 tables (less than half) were occupied. The restaurant has a huge glass window into the kitchen so you can see the chef at work. It also has some quirky lightshades, made out of colanders and graters.
Food was good - bread with anchovy spread, an amuse bouche of tomato cream and pancetta. We both had the same starter - goats cheese, gruyere crisps, tomato beignets (like tiny doughnuts) and a glass of tomato consomme. For mains, Roy had loin and belly of pork, with crackling. Jan had karoo lamb. Three pieces - loin, rack and shank (the shank was in a little pastry case) served with mint and mango salsa, and some other sauce (can't remember the details!). It was sooooo good. Karoo lamb is fabulous. They are reared in an area of SA called the Karoo - which is covered in fragrant shrubs and herbs, so that the lambs pick up the flavour in their meat. I had thought that this would be all hype, as people kept going on about how good it was. But wow, it WAS good! For dessert we both had a chocoholic delight - four mini desserts: chocolate fondant, ice cream, mini chocolate roll, brandy snap with ganache. Bottle of La Motte Cabernet Sauvignon. Coffees. All very, very good. And presented beautifully - in fact on my dish there was a garnish that I never quite figured out if I was supposed to eat! It was a leaf of parsley sandwiched between two wafer thin slices of potato (skin still on) and then somehow cooked until crisp but not brown. I decided against eating it, it was too pretty!
On the way out, chef meets you to say good night and ask how you found the food, so we had a little chat with him and headed off home. Bon Vivant was a 10 minute walk from our guest house, which is just as well as there are no taxis in Franschhoek.
The bad news was that I was starting to feel pretty bad by now - and had a weird night. Tossed and turned, ached and shivered. Took 2 paracetomol during the night and spent the rest of the night sweating. Woke up feeling a lot better however I definitely have some form of food poisoning. I will spare you any more details.
Health and nature are conspiring against my perfect and long awaited weekend in Franschhoek. We have booked lunch at the place with the best view in town tomorrow - and the forecast is for rain.
