Friday, October 1
A leisurely start to the day…breakfast around 10:00, driver pick-up around 11:15 for a trip to Franschhoek, which is the culinary and wine capital of South Africa. (The name means “French Corner,” referring to the Huguenots that settled the valley in the last decade of the 1600s.) We wandered around the small village, stopping in many interesting stores (but spared from actually parting with any money in most). We both thought that the town reminded us a lot of Saugatuck, Michigan, with many local high-quality stores and restaurants.
Local store in Franschhoek -- Don't know why pumpkins adorn the roof.
At one store that was selling art (made by the owner) and other African-crafted items, we spoke with the owner, whose story mirrors that of many in the US – he had three stores prior to the recession, but has since closed two of them because of lack of business, has lost his home because he was unable to keep up payments, etc. I wondered if this was a ploy to get us to buy something (which we did anyway), but gave up on that idea when he gave us his business card as we were leaving -- the closed stores were scratched out and his e-mail address and cell phone number were changed by hand. His wife and two young daughters were also at the shop – the kid’s school doesn’t start again until next week. It was good to see that he is maintaining a positive attitude, and believes that things will get better. I hope he’s right!
We had a light lunch at an outdoor French café, and then had to decide which winery to visit – there quite a lot in the area! We picked the one that our inn hosts had suggested, nestled in the mountains just outside town, with a restaurant, microbrewery and winery. Since we thought we had enough food and wine for the time being, we opted for a photo shoot around the facility, which had great views of the valley below. Then back to Cathbert to relax before dinner.
View from winery.Another winery view.
Dinner tonight was at Le Quartier Francais in Franschhoek, which our Inn hosts said was in the top thirty restaurants in the world! We came not knowing that the inn host hadn’t reserved a table for us in the main dining room, but in the tasting room. And here we thought that we’d have plenty of time after dinner to pack. Wrong again! Here’s a summary of our nine-course meal, each course accompanied by the appropriate wine: Lightly smoked luderitz oyster, chorizo, cucumber and granadilla; lemon poached west coast crayfish tail, prawn wafer, marshmallow; northern province fois gras, prosciutto, cranberry and whiskey dressing; celeriac and bucho risotto; sous vide quail breast, truffled quail egg, asparagus; braised free-range klein karoo lamb breast, chakalaka marmalade, basil, salted grapes, roast garlic; dalewood fromage Huguenot cheddar, fig blue gum honey; pear and baobab parfait, lemon verbena, verjuice, pistachio; naartjie and buttermilk cannelloni, raw jersey milk sherbet, fennel. The only thing that saved us was the small portions. The service was slow, as befits a meal like this. The unfortunate result was that we were packing well after midnight, and were getting picked up early the next morning.
Unusual bread service at Le Quartier Francais
Chuck hones his wine-tasting skills...many times this evening.
This marks the beginning of our true African adventure. Our visit so far, while wonderful, could have been any big city or in the countryside in the US or Europe. From here on, things will be different! Critters, here we come!
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