A couple of days in Franschhoek

It’s no secret that the Cape Winelands produce some of the best wine in the world. Nor is it a secret that I’m a big fan of a nice deep red!

The best way to explore the wine region thoroughly is to tackle it piece by piece. This past weekend we did exactly that! We took a small gap and went on a long overdue trip to Franschhoek. It was my first time exploring this area and it did not disappoint!

Franschhoek's original inhabitants are the Khoisan, who still live there. In the 1600s French Huguenot refugees began populating the valley, thus the areas name meaning ‘French Corner’. These settlers introduced their native French traditions, agricultural and winemaking expertise to the Franschhoek valley.

They named their new farms after the areas in France from which they came:

La Motte, Champagne, La Cotte, Cabrière, La Provence, Bourgogne, La Terra de Luc and La Dauphine were among some of the first established farms.

The French heritage is shown today by the Huguenot Monument & Museum which stands at the end of the town and a three-minute drive to our accommodation - which was picturesque.

Our home for a couple of nights, La Verdure is French for “The Green Place".

A few years back the owners made an executive decision to move away from the fruit export market to pursue a greener lifestyle. Thus, staying true to their values and their name. They no longer use poisons to ensure export quality plums, rather - in their words:

"When life throws you 30 tons of plums, distil them into Slivovic! This is how the Franschhoek Distillery was born."

By living a more eco-conscious lifestyle of growing fruit, using virtually no pesticides whatsoever, they have managed to restore the balance here. Now there's an ever-growing number of indigenous birds whose songs fill the air, plenty of chameleons in the orchards and even endangered species of frogs and toads!

This farm is very much aligned to the entire Franschhoek valleys motto of “Eat, Drink, Sleep!”

As such, I highly recommend staying here. If you do, who knows, you might bump into the owners on their evening stroll accompanied by their stunning Alsatian or one of the Newfoundlands!

Long ago a slow country village, the Franschhoek valley has become one of South Africa's most sought after residential addresses. With ideal summer weather, snowy peaks in the winter and not far off from Cape Town this is seriously an ideal location!

This valley is more than just a wine region, it offers some of the top restaurants in the country with pristine natural and architectural beauty! There is so much history and culture here, it's even home to a large collection Motor Museum. Franschhoek has something to offer for everyone, including several independent boutiques and menswear shops and quality homeware stores. There's even a famous chocolate shop!

This is the reason many describe Franschhoek as the "food and wine capital" of South Africa.