The following morning it was time to say our fond farewells to Camps Bay and embark on a 1 hour 15-minute journey to Franschhoek in the Cape Winelands region for a little wine tasting – well, it was nearly Christmas!
The small town of Franschhoek is a beautiful wine valley that is nestled between towering mountains and takes its name from the French Huguenots who fled their home country and finally settled in the town in the early 1680s. This breathtaking area is South Africa’s oldest settlement and centre of wine production, as well as being a gastronomic wonder. It is home to 42 active wineries, along with cheese factories, art galleries, and three outstanding chocolatiers. You can take a tour of the wineries by tram or even on horseback if you feel as if you can maintain a satisfactory state of balance after sampling some of the world’s finest wines! We decided that it would be easier to get around at our own pace by car, so wine tasting had to be performed economically and that meant visiting more wineries than actually tasting the wine - well, for the driver at least! Views at all the wineries were magnificent and have to be seen in order to appreciate their remarkable beauty. Even Richard Branson hasn’t missed out on an opportunity to be part of something truly amazing and is the proud owner of beautiful Mont Rochelle.
