Garden Route ZA: Day 9: Great delight in Franschhoek

We were all happy not to take off for a new destination when starting the day. Instead we could make plans for a full day in the Winelands. We chose to start in Franschhoek – a small town where the French Huguenots settled and brought their vines more than 300 years ago.

Our first stop was at “La Couronne” where we chose a combo tasting – wine and chocolate. We were the only visitors in the morning and enjoyed the time on their balcony. I had to taste every wine (five in total) twice; because Joakim was our selected driver for the day and was too embarrassed admitting that he only had a sip from each glass. The wines we tried were nice, but to be honest I cared more for the chocolates. J

Vines at La Couronne

After the tasting we decided to walk around the downtown area to catch the town spirit. However, we discovered that this part of the town was much too touristy.

On the other hand, the next stop was so much better – the Babylonstoren Estate, in between Franschhoek and Paarl. The restaurant owner in Swellendam had recommended us to visit this estate and our idea was to have our lunch there. We were lucky to get a table at the Babel Restaurant; a booking was referred to as “essential”. The food was fantastic; I believe this was my best lunch so far on the trip. I had Fish of the day (trout) with lightly pickled fruits. A large plate of veggies accompanied the meal, i.e. oven baked potatoes, pumpkin and steamed broccoli. Yum!

After this splendid food experience we continued our stay in the gardens. More or less any fruit, berry or vegetable grew there! It was really nice to stroll around and we were actually invited to pick and taste ripe fruits. I think we spent one hour exploring the many different sections. Before leaving we visited the farm shop were we bought bread, cheese and cold meats – realizing that we would not fancy a new hot meal in the evening.