We got up this morning for a lovely breakfast, again. Packed up. Since we still had a little time we wandered about and I took a few last photos near the Victoria and Albert Hotel. Great location-great hotel
A last view out our window.
The hall in the photo is filled with various food stalls. From all sorts of drinks - tea coffee alcohol - to edible items - our pies came from here as well as an oyster bar, pizza, and a South African Mexican choice.
The statues of the four Nobel Peace prize winners - and Charlie
This hall had all sorts of items for sale. Most of the sale items were clothing, and kitchen items and art work - some of it very nice.
We got back to the hotel in time to meet our driver who would take us to Franschhoek (literally - French Bend). Most of the drive was along a freeway and through traffic jams. After an hour or so we pulled off he road and headed toward our South African wine country stay. The driver explained to us that the Dutch settled the area with the Portuguese. A century or so later, Huguenots settled here too. The French were particularly happy with the wine growing potential of the place and have established vineyards here ever since. Many names of the streets and buildings are French here. Apparently on July 14th, Bastille Day, there is a huge celebration here as well.
We are staying at the Leeu House. A Sikh man named Analjit Singh grew up in New Dehli and came to South Africa to invest in properties. He bought a winery and properties for several hotels. Given that Singh means "lion" he used Leeu the Dutch (Afrikaans) word for lion. Somehow, when Charlie and I wandered around town (a quick wander), he seemed to own about half of the place. When we arrived we were asked if we wanted to eat Indian food for dinner. Sounded good - the Marigold restaurant is owned by Mr. Singh. We went for a small bite for lunch and ended up in a little cafe called Tuk Tuk (also owned by Mr. Singh). Around two this afternoon we went wine tasting. A van drove us (with another couple - they were from London) to a winery (the Mullineux and Leeu Winery) owned by, you guessed it, Mr. Singh. The truth is all these places seem quite nice - so here's to Mr. Singh.
Our room wasn't quite ready so we had lunch at Tuk Tuk. It was an odd meal. Several of the dishes were Mexican (I tried beef tacos and guacamole, and Charlie tried chicken quesadillas and guacamole - not quite Mexican but an interesting try). Here we were in South Africa, in a town settled by Dutch, then French Huguenots, eating at a place owned by an Indian Sikh and trying a Mexican meal. Cool.
Here are a few photos of Franschhoek.
The Dutch influence is seen in the roof lines here.
The town is dominated by gift shops and cafes, and not much else.
The town is about 10 blocks long and 3 blocks wide. It sits in a valley surrounded by fairly dramatic peaks
Biltong is a type of jerky. It's air dried rather than heat dried after it's been soaked in a marinade of vinegar and some other things. We haven't tried it yet, but it's considered one of the basics of the South African cuisine.
A view of Tuk Tuk - our lunch place
A Huguenot memorial
The French influence.
One of the peculiar things about this place is there isn't much here. I like wine and wine tasting, but there really isn't anything else here except scads of tourists. One of my favourite things to do on a trip is to learn local customs and cultures. I like museums, wandering around, and even peeking around a local grocery store. That's why I'm not really a fan of cruise ships, or isolated resorts. In both those venues, there really isn't much else to do except ogle other tourists, eat and drink. Towns like this one are better - just. The only locals are in the tourist trade (or winery workers). It becomes like a wine infused Disneyland. We take a wine-tasting, cheese-tasting tour tomorrow and Lazarus will be with us. Maybe I'll get a more positive take on the place.
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