8. Last couple of days and back to the cold

It is sad how quickly a holiday comes towards its end.  We only had a couple of days left, so were at the stage of doing the things on the list that were left over, and trying to pretend we weren't heading home to the cold soon.  Of course, none of that meant we got up any earlier.  The best thing about being on holiday is not setting an alarm, just letting the sun wake you up naturally.  There is no sleep like it.

So after our usual breakfast of cereal, juice and green tea, we headed out on foot to the weekly market held just near the church.  I was looking for African themed Christmas cards of all things, but it seems there is a gap in the market.  Perhaps if I do end up living in Franschhoek that is something I can look into providing.  ;-)

The market was nice (particularly as one woman told me how much she loved my skirt, which is always nice to hear).  We didn't buy anything as our luggage was already a little too full, but it was nice having a quick browse.

On the way back to the house, the clouds over the mountains were once again looking stunning, so |I had to stop and take a few extra photographs - every day the cloud formation was beautiful, and each time in a slightly different way.  This truly must be one of the most beautiful places to live in the world.  Of course, none of the photos show that at 10am the temperature was already over 25 degrees!

Into the car and first we headed back to Stony Brook - I needed to get an extra wine box (polystyrene lined and meant no risk of getting the wine purchases back unscathed in the hold).  Beautiful view over the mountains again.  We also put in an order to be delivered back in London - this meant dealing with the marketing assistant Christina.  She was absolutely exhausting - the sweetest, nicest Afrikaner girl ever, but so much energy, speaking at nine to the dozed constantly, you feel like you are in the middle of a whirling dervish show.  Scary.  Here she is playing with Max the dog (and the animal the Max wine is named after since he is a bit feisty and the wine is fairly complex).

SS and I were both exhausted when we left!
Driving out of Franschhoek towards Stellenbosch we had to stop again to take another few photographs back down the valley...

Once we reached Stellenbosch our first stop was Simonsig.  This was for two reasons - firstly we had had a couple of very nice bottles of Simonsig whilst on holiday in Scotland of all places, and secondly of course, because of SS.
On the way in they had a nice set of billboards talking about soil types and grape types, with outside tables nearby with people eating an early lunch.

Once inside it was a slightly strange set up in that there was a bar at one end, and lots of tables in the room.  You decided how many glasses you wanted to sample, and then had to walk up and back from the bar each time to get your next one.  All a bit of a palaver really.

This was all made a little more annoying as the wines were very uninspiring.  (A word used repeatedly by SS in his closely guarded wine notes book).  In the end we tried 14 different reds, sparklings and dessert wines, and the only one we liked was the Frans Malan Cape Blend.  The others were, simply, pants.

Speaking of pants, check out the tight denim short shorts on this fine specimen of an ex-rugby playing Saffa.  Really, when did you last see shorts like that on anyone over the age of 5, particularly a male someone??!

The saving grace of the place was the loos - best we encountered in the whole trip, like a luxury hotel really. Well worth a visit ;-)
Back outside, the views continued, even tho' Simonsig is on the valley floor, you can still see for miles.  The heat at this point had built up to such an extent I could only stand outside the airconditioning for about 5 minutes before starting to melt myself.

We had a quick stop off at Hartenberg to order some wine for our lovely host who had allowed us to stay in his house.  Then I suggested going to Ernie Els since we had not had time earlier in the week.  SS was amenable (amazingly! ;-) ) so off we headed back down the R44.  On getting to the gates however they were firmly shut with a notice saying "Closed for a private event".  Hmph.  SS was all gung-ho about pressing the buzzer and explaining who he was, but instead we remembered that the guy at Uva Mira had recommended Weberburg to us, which was just down the road.  Since we were there, and it was open, we thought why not.  What a lucky decision!  Stunning place, with old Cape Dutch buildings from the 1700s converted to self catering cottages, and a tasting room with private room available for hire for events.

We found the tasting room eventually - out the back of the main building overlooking the dam.  We started off with the MCCs (Methode Cap Classique), and the brut especially was wonderful.  But also look at the peachy blush colour of the rose - I liked this also altho' SS was not such a fan.

The tasting room itself was beautifully decorated, altho' staffed as usual by young women picked more for enthusiasm/looks than any real ability or interest in wine.

We both noticed that it was about 3pm at this point and we had not eaten since breakfast, so we decided to order the Harvest Platter. Both girls disappeared about the back to assemble it, and oh wow!  It was stunning.  And HUGE!  There was meats, fruit, cheeses, cornichons, honeyed figs, pickled onions, mixed nuts, butter, bread, olives, droewors and salad.  We certainly could not finish it all, but amazing value and beautifully done.

Luckily we also like their cabernet sauvignons and so once again we left with a bottle.  The place was quite buzzy by the time we left as a group of about 10 south africans and australians arrived on their recovery day after a wedding of their friends.  So there was lots of post wedding gossip to listen in to.  On the way out we took a photo of the private room - what a perfect place for a 50th birthday dinner?

We headed home again to relax for a few hours before we were due at Grande Provence for a tasting and for dinner.  I had a swim as it was still over 25 degrees at 5:30pm (phew) and then we got dressed and headed off.  Readers will recall we had a stunning lunch here last time we were in Franschhoek, but this time we decided to combine a wine tasting first with a dinner for our last night of holiday.  The driveway up to Grande Provence is just beautiful, through the vines.  

Then on into the tasting room.

The very knowledgeable and helpful guy there was happy to let us sit outside for the tasting, so out we went.

He then came out with each of the reds in turn for us to try.  Unfortunately the cabernet sauvignon that we liked so much last time (which had a unique minty taste due to its proximity to eucalyptus trees) was no longer so memorable - the guy explained that the flavours in the soil were not so pronounced two years on.  We much preferred the syrah, which they explained had just won an award for best syrah in the world.  At R130 a bottle we could not say no to buying one after the tasting, and then we headed in to dinner.

The restaurant is quite small, but beautifully decorated.  Unfortunately I had a backless dress on, which meant I had to keep peeling myself off the high backed leather chair (trying to avoid that band-aid noise each time).  It did wonders for my posture - I looked positively Victorian sitting bolt upright.
So here is the menu.  SS struggled mightily with his main course choice.  Always a problem when you don't like mash in any form, eggs, or pork belly where the fat is not fried off.  In the end I suggested he ask if they could replace the mash that came with the chicken with chips instead (which they were happy to do).

Bread arrived - home made and fresh, but I have learned by now not to overload on bread no matter how wonderful.

The amuse bouche arrived first - an amazing salmon veloute with mustard and masala of all things, we both really enjoyed this.

Then, here was my salad - the most gorgeous, delicate, baby little salad that tasted absolutely amazing.  Squid ink quinoa - who would have thought that would be so fabulous?  It had small pieces of seafood in a turmeric confit, and delicate little shavings of vegetables and leaves.

SS started with the soft shell crab.  I did have the better dish, but his was very good, with the most unusual little caviar type spheres - I think this was a squid ink spherification actually, but it tasted wonderful either way.  Unfortunately the soft shell was breaded before being fried which was a bit strange, and not really recommended.

Next up, another amuse bouche.  This time a palate cleanser of apple and granadilla sorbet (quite heavy on the cinnamon but perfectly nice).  You can see the sun was going down now at about 8:30pm, so the photographs get a little more grainy).

Main courses next - here is SS's chicken and chips.  The chips did arrive in a glass dish on the side (they obviously struggled with the presentation given his menu change request), but he just tipped them out anyway.  He seemed to enjoy it, but really chicken and chips can only be so good.  I felt a little guilty as my main was just stunning...

And here it is - a fillet of beef with potatoes, truffles, mushrooms, asparagus and jus.  It is without doubt the best piece of steak I have ever had in my entire life.  Cooked perfectly to medium rare, not messed with at all, side of hollandaise sauce, melt in the mouth beef with no fat at all.  I inhaled it - I did share a little with SS and for a man who always has his steak well done, he wanted another piece.  That is how good it was.  I have heard people describe fillet as being like butter in the mouth, but have never experienced it before.  If I could eat this every night I would be a dedicated carnivore.  And this cost R180 or about £13.50.  Take that Gaucho Grill, Hawksmoor etc etc.  Just typing this, I want it again.

As you can see... ;-)

There was a pre-dessert next.  This was an almond and lavender panacotta.  I really dislike panacotta at the best of times, and this one tasted like soap to me (I do not believe lavender is something that should be eaten at all).  Still, beautifully presented.

The sun was well and truly gone by now.

As the last courses arrived we were very relaxed and happy.  SS had gone for the cheese - very heavy and French so not really his favourite.

I went for the chocolate self saucing pudding with peanut butter icecream.  The self saucing was perfect, but this was all way too much for me to eat, even in the miniature portions.  I only got through half of it.  I am really not a dessert person anymore, and this was a step too far.

Back to the car (we were walked the 25 steps by a guard with a torch as it gets dark in the valley), and drove back home.  It was still only about 10:30pm, but I was tired by now.  Plus we only had one day left before flying out the next evening.

Next day, up we got for our last breakfast, and just headed out into the sun to top ourselves up with vitamin D and colour before heading back to the cold UK.  The pool awaited...

After a lovely day in the sun, I cleaned up, did a load of washing up, and packed for both of us.  After a last lunch of salad and left overs from the fridge, with our favourite tuna sandwiches, we were all ready.  Our bags were much heavier with the additional 19 bottles of wine neatly packed in their polystyrene boxes, and a lot fuller, but still almost manageable.
We locked up sadly, and back into the car and down to town where I got the rest of the cash out that was left on my currency card, then off through Stellenbosch, back to the N2 (I missed the turning again like last time), and off to the airport.  I insisted on driving around to get into the petrol station there rather than let Hertz fill the car, and found the sneaky way eventually.  Dropped the car off, had it checked in with no issues or extra charges (received a text from Hertz 10 minutes later confirming - great service), then we checked in, got rid of the bags, and headed through security.  First to duty free to see the wine collection.  A 1 litre bottle of Amarula for R125 or about £9 had to be had, and then I found a little stash of Boekenhoutskloof syrah hiding on an unlikely shelf.  It is so hard to find anywhere else that we got three bottles!  So with another 4 bottles of alcohol between us, we went to the lounge - all my travelling is paying off in that way at least.  The internet connection was a little annoying, but it was good to sit and have some snacks until the flight was called.
Our seats on the way back in economy were fine - in the centre 4 seats 3 rows from the front on a 747.  Of course business would have been better, but we are way too skint and pikey for that.  I watched "Cheerful weather for the wedding" and a couple of documentaries.  SS watched "Ted", "Snow White and the Huntsman" and "From Rome with Love".  I actually managed to get about 4 hours sleep amazingly.  SS did not get any.
We landed on time, but had to sit on the plane for 20 minutes waiting for a stand to be available.  When it was we quickly got through customs, but then had to wait another 50 minutes for our bags (BAA messing up again).  So we were an hour later getting on to the tube than we should have been.  Out at Kings Cross, finally found the taxi rank (terrible signage), and then home to our cold, leaking, sad house.  Where did the sun go?????