Franschoek: The French corner of South Africa
If you want to know what the wine region of South Africa is like, think Napa with mountains. With hundreds of wineries, South Africa is an ideal place to do some serious boozing. Franschoek is about an hour from Cape Town, where the Huegenot settled a few hundred years ago. Full of Cape Dutch architecture and fine French cuisine – at low, low prices – it’s really a great place to eat, drink and generally cavort.

And when the tasting is over, you get to drive home on the left side of the road. (Disclaimer: As the designated (sic) driver, I think I have been mostly responsible in my mixture of fine wines with cheap autos).

While Erin and I know little about wine – I do like using terms like “fruity”, “nose” and “mouth-feel” – we do know if we like something. And so it was we spent three days touring around the countryside, visiting wineries, tasting pinotage, sauvignon blanc, chardonnay and other such things to our hearts’ content.

Check out the photos to get a sense of the fun.