Anniversary Celebrations

Planning
To celebrate out 5th wedding anniversary we decided to go to Franschhoek. We did a bit of research first as there are so many wine farms to chose from. We eventually decided to hire a driver, we thought it would be easier as our 6 month old baby would be joining too.

As for the farms, well that wasn't such an easy choice. As I said there are just so many to chose from. Eventually we decided to chose a route from the Franschhoek wine train and chose a few wine farms from the list.

We looked at each one online and decided which we'd like to visit, eat at, wine taste, etc.

Itinerary
8:15 – driver collects from house and we drive to Grande Provence, Franschhoek

9:30-10:30 – breakfast at Grande Provence booked 9:30

10:30-12:00 – look around Grande Provence; The Gallery, Sculpture garden, Cheetah outreach and wine tasting

12:00-13:00 – drive through Franschhoek to the monument, look around monument

13:15-14:30 – Lunch at Maison, The Chefs Warehouse, booked 13:15

14:30-15:00 – look around Maison estate

15:00-16:00 – Chamonix wine estate, wine tasting and look around

16:00-17:00 – Holden Manz wine estate, wine tasting and look around

17:00-18:00 – drive home

The Trip

Our driver collected us from our house at around 8am. We used a company called EZshuttle, they are very professional and so easy to deal with. We use them often.

The car that collected us was a BMW 3 series and our driver was Gideon. He was very helpful and professional all day. We fitted the car seat for our son and was able to leave our belongings in the car. With the unpredictable weather and a baby we had a lot of "stuff" so having a car to be able to use as storage for the day was helpful.

The trip was smooth and comfortable. It was nice to be in control of our destinations and route of how to get there. If we wanted to stop to take pictures or divert to a shop, it wasn't a problem.

If you both want to have wine then I'd definitely recommend hiring a car/driver for the day if you have a young baby. It made life so easy and more enjoyable as we didn't have to worry about lugging everything around.

The drive itself is so beautiful, especially in autumn. The trees were all different colours and there were different autumn flowers in bloom.

As you get closer to Franschhoek the mountains become clearer and more spectacular. It really is a stunning part of the world and worth a drive to see the views let alone anything else.

The Farms

Grande Provence
Our First stop was at Grande Provence for breakfast. As you drive down the drive way you are greeted by a cute little cape dutch style house. There are vineyards all around the estate, each section labelled for the type of wine the grapes are being grown for.

We went to The Deli for breakfast. It was still early and a little chilly so we sat inside with the heaters on. I had eggs Benedict, my husband had chicken livers and eggs on toast and my son had scrambled egg. The eggs were a little over done but the breakfast itself was good.

We then walked off breakfast with a stroll around the estate. They had statues and sculptures around the gardens and a cute little art gallery with some interesting pieces.

To finish off we went back to The Deli for some wine tasting. It had gotten warmer so we sat outside this time. We tried the Angel Tears House wine tasting, this consisted of:

Angel Tears Rose - this was a dry rose with a fruity profile. We aren't rose wine lovers but this one was delicious. We decided to buy a bottle for home
2 white wines - a Sauvignon Blanc and Moscato. Both very different in taste. The SB was dry and crisp and very easy to drink. The Moscato was a desert wine so was very sweet but smooth to drink.
2 reds - a blended wine of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon and a Pinotage. I wasn't so keen on the blended red it was a smooth medium bodied wine. The Pinotage is called Le Chocolate because it has hints of chocolate and coffee.

Overall, we liked the estate, the food was good, the estate interesting and pretty and the wines were lovely. They were accommodating and great with children. There is a play park there too.

Maison
We stopped at Maison for lunch at their restaurant called The Chefs Warehouse. This is one of the top restaurants not just in Franschhoek but in Cape Town.

The restaurant had a relaxed environment with log fires inside, perfect on a chilly day.

They do a selection of Tapas to share, I added a picture of the menu. The food was delicious and service was friendly. They had a high chair ready for us too.
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Our meal was accompanied by a glass of wine. To finish I had a cup of tea and my husband had a coffee. This accompanied our desert, we chose White Chocolate and Malt Creme, Elderflower Turkish delight, Meringue, Peach & Sherry Vinegar Sorbet

We spent so long in the restaurant that we didn't get to look around the rest of the Estate.

Chamonix
After a relaxing lunch we drive to our next stop which was Chamonix. It is a big estate with its own game drive. You can do a game drive and wine tasting for R700. We didn't do this though, we just wine tasted.

Unfortunately, we didn't enjoy this estate or the wine. We were the only people at the estate, the atmosphere was flat and the wine didn't taste very nice.

We were disappointed with this estate. I think it would be nice in the summer but I don't think we will go back.

Holden Manz
To end our trip we finished at Holden Manz. This estate is on the other side of Franschhoek town and closer to the mountains. The surroundings were absolutely stunning, certainly the most pretty estate of the day.

When you drive in you drive through the vineyard and up to the building. Then as you walk up to the building there is a little pond and a green area all surrounded by the vineyards.

The wine tasting room was in the wine cellar and you could see all the barrels of wine and people working in the cellar.

The wine tasting was served to us by a trainee sommelier. He was able to tell us lots of interesting facts about all the wines plus answer lots of questions we had. It really made the experience.

We decided to try the Signature Reds which consisted of:

Visionaire
Cabernet Sauvignon
Syrah
Proprietors’ red blend
Big G
Merlot Reserve
Syrah Reserve

All the wine tasted great but we especially loved the last 3 on the list, which we ended up buying. The sommelier also gave us a free bottle of rose for our anniversary.

The restaurant wasn't open and we didn't have time to look around the estate but this was our favourite estate and we will definitely go back.

The Monument

In the middle of that day we stopped at The Huguenot Museum and Monument.

The museum shows the story of the Huguenots at the Cape in the context of the global refugee phenomenon.

The Huguenots fled their countries to escape religious persecution. Between 1688 and 1689 a number of them came to the Cape of Good Hope, mainly via the Dutch Republic. They were mainly members of the French protestant or Walloon congregations, inspired by the reformer John Calvin.

The Monument itself was very symbolic. The cross at the top represents the Christian faith. The sun represents the Sun of Righteousness. The three arches represent the trilogy - the father, the son and the Holy Spirit. The pool represents tranquility and spiritual peace after great strife.

Then the other part of the monument is the lady standing on a globe. In her hand she has a bible and a broken chain, these symbolise freedom of religion. The fleur-de-lis on her dress attests to nobility of spirit and character. On the globe the southern tip of Africa is marked as this is where the ships brought the Huguenots. There are symbols are a bible which represents faith, a harp which represents their art and culture, sheaf of corn and a vine represents their agriculture and the spinning wheel represents their industry.

We found the museum and monument very interesting and insightful. We enjoy this sort of thing and are very glad we stopped.