A quick trip to the Costa Brava

Now that John is well on the way to recovery after his op and is no longer being visited daily by the local nurse, there is time to slip away for a couple of days before our trip to the UK to help look after Ernie.

When we came off the motorway, we stopped at the first village we passed through, Verges. There we found a choice of restaurants and chose one with a garden.





The menu was all in Catalan, but we managed to decode it with the help of a very friendly waiter. We didn't make the best choices, but did enjoy our meal. We then wandered around Verges before setting off for our hotel. It was a small village with a stream that powered a water wheel.








We had decided to try a hotel that we had spotted on our January visit to the Costa Brava, the Sant Roc at Calella de Palafruell. The Sant Roc has a wonderful position high on the rocks on the edge of the village and was offering special rates for the over 60s. At the beginning of May, everything is open but while there are tourists around there is space in the hotels and restaurants.



The hotel is very impressive on the outside, looking like a five star establishment, but as with other spanish hotels we have stayed in, the grand edifice does not necessarily reflect the interior. The rooms were very comfortable, but breakfasts were not inspiring and the restaurant did not get good reviews so we ate elsewhere. However, the views for the terrace were stunning.








We spent the first evening wandering along the shore. The village is made up of many small bays each with its own name.










We ate just near the small fishing boats in a well positioned but not very good restaurant.

The next day, we walked through Calella and on to the next big bay, Llfranc. We had visited Llfranc in February and thought that there were some good restaurants to try. The coastal walk there is really scenic and we were taking the same photos as in February.











We found a small family restaurant just off the sea front where we had a very good meal.





In the evening we walked in the opposite direction along the coastal path, the GR92 which is a coastal path from Portbou on the French/Spanish Mediterranean border down past Barcelona and beyond. The path is not hard walking, but there are scary bits and magnificent scenery.














We then went off to eat and found a lovely tapas bar in Calella, called Calau.





As well as the tapas on the counter, staff came round with just-cooked hot tapas to tempt us; they succeeded! We never had time to help ourselves at the counter as we struck up interesting conversations with an Irish couple and a Belgian couple.

The next day, we set off for home, intending to call in at several other bays on the way. Our first stop was Fournells which appeared to be an upmarket village with a hotel and private harbour.







From here, we could join another part of the GR92 along the coast, discovering the rocky coastline and empty beaches.





We stopped at this beach for a cup of tea before turning back to the car. Above the beach was the posh Parador Hotel of Aiguabrava.









Our next stop was Tamariu: a small resort with a beach, three hotels and several restaurants. We walked around the bay and then along another part of the Gr92 before it was time for lunch.











We had a good lunch with a bottle of rosé and decided to stay the night.

The following day, we again set out for home, this time via Begus, a small, busy town with a 'fort'.





When we reached the 'fort', we discovered that it was really a rocky outcrop with some very small walls around it.




From the top, you can see Bégur in the foreground, Lestartit with its rocks and islands and Rosas in the distance. In another direction you could see the sea and high-rise blocks of Palamos and Platja D'Aro.



Bégur nestles between three hills









So then it was time for home and a meal with friends in Maraussan, a village not far from here. Now we are preparing for our next trip to the UK by car to help look after Ernie while Helen returns to work.




Pat and John on tour

Franschhloek to Cape Town and London

We awoke to what looked like a cold day and had serious doubts about the outside shower! However, it really wasn't that cold and before we went up to breakfast, we watched a rainbow appear.





When we were eating our breakfast, a baboon briefly appeared on the roof of the restaurant.





We packed up our bags and checked out. We had been offered a wine tour as part of our stay and this was scheduled for 11am. We had booked a table at a restaurant a short distance away at 1pm and thought that we would be kicking our heels for a while, but this was not the case.

At 11am we assembled on the lawn, as instructed and tried not to get mixed up with a wedding was taking place at the same time.

We were a group of six, a German couple, a local with visitor and us, plus the vigneron and owner of the hotel, John (the patriarch).

We have done many wines tours in our time and this was the best!

John has built the business, both the hotel and vineyard and is passionate and knowledgeable. His wines win prizes year after year although La Petite Ferme is not a big vineyard.





The tour was interactive, not a lecture. John was asking questions all the time and keeping everyone involved, and we were ordered to be quiet at times. We examined the vines in detail, covered the history of wine in South Africa and the terroir. Then we went inside to the business end of making wine. It was helpful that some of the red grapes had been picked only two weeks before and were still being processed.

In the vines he explained how he grafted his vines, the different soil types they have and how they decide when to pick the grapes.

We saw the white wines in their specially cooled vats (not something that we had seen inaction before). He explained the lengths that they went to to produce good Sauvignon Blanc. We saw red wine in open vats with the grape skins still in their cap. The floor was wet with grape juice/wine.




Then we went to the wines maturing in barrels and tasted them from a pipette (wine thief).


Finally, we tasted wines from the bottle including one that we had drunk the previous evening.

From previous experience, I expected that prices would be mentioned and that one would feel some obligation to buy. This was not the case. John simply wished us a good day and left us.

It was the most interesting wine tour we have experienced, ever.

So, we then headed for lunch at Rickety Bridge (that's another wine domain with a restaurant).



Here we had a very enjoyable lunch at a very reasonable price. This was the view from the terrace where we ate






We then meandered our way through the Stellanbosch wine area to Cape Town to return the car and take the plane to London.

The town of Stellenbosch, like Franshhoek, has many restaurants, but is but as tourisy. These are some of the scenes

















It could almost be a village in England






While having a cup of tea, we noticed this possible slogan for the Conservative party






We headed for the airport through the Stellenbosch wine fields





And quite liked the logo for this vineyard






We passed this film set on the outskirts of Cape Town.





Our flight was on time and we arrived in the UK at 6am on Sunday to snow, which was a shock after our recent temperatures of 25 - 30 C.





We had lunch with all the family on Sunday and will be returning to France during the week.


Pat and John on tour

Franshhoek and La Petite Ferme

La Petite Ferme is a hotel, restaurant and wine producer overlooking Franshhoek. As well as hotel rooms, there are cottages in the vines.

Our cottage, Pear Tree cottage, was down a vineyard track and definitely not to be driven to in the dark. It is the green roof below



It had a bathroom but not a shower, however, there was an outside shower by the plunge pool.

This is the view from the shower and over the plunge pool , so we felt pretty safe from onlookers.


We went up to breakfast in the dining room





from which the view is



The restaurant is normally open only for lunch and so we went to reception to arrange for a platter of cheese in the evening. The receptionist asked if we knew that they would be serving dinner on this evening and that there was a jazz concert. We changed our plans on the spot and booked for the evening.

We returned to the cottage and sat on the terrace for a while, blogged and looking at photos



We wandered into Franshooek to look around. The town is very well presented and clearly up market and touristy with art shops, restaurants and B&Bs. It's not somewhere to do day-to-day shopping. There was also an open market of African Art stalls which although much cheaper than the shops, were devoid of shoppers, other than us. We bought yet another small stone statue.









The Town Hall




We had thought of doing some wine tasting, after lunch, but eventually decided just to have a lazy, relaxing day and sort out the cases ready for the following day. John wandered down to the dam below out cottage with his camera




There were lots of noisy Egyptian Geese



In the evening, we enjoyed a very good meal and some excellent wines made at La Petite Ferme while listening to the music.





Pat and John on tour