Wemmershoek to Franschoek: A short ride to get closer to town - The second step ... A booze cruise that is actually a dry run - CycleBlaze

February 21, 2017

Wemmershoek to Franschoek: A short ride to get closer to town

De Hollandsche Molen is about 11 kilometers from Franschoek and has no shops or restaurants close by so after first breakfast this morning (bread rolls left over from last night) we took the short ride up the hill (and into the wind) to Franschhoek where, after stopping off at the local Pick'nPay for a second breakfast of muffins, we have booked into a backpackers a few hundred meters from the center of town. This gives us far more options with food and wine. The place is called Otter's Bend and is situated between the vineyards, one of its neighbours being Mont Rochelle, Richard Branson's wine estate.

For lunch we cycled down to Grand Provence hoping for a wine tasting and to enjoy their tapas menu. Unfortunately the tapas menu is no more and the wine was disappointing. So it was into Franschoek for simple wrap at Bicccs followed by some shopping at the Pick'nPay for panninis, humus and aubergines for supper (plus a bottle of Pierre Jourdan Brut, one of the local MCCs - MCC stands for Methode Cap Classique and is the Cape standard by which "proper" bubblies need to be made).

Major design fault with the bottle cage - it's too small for a bottle of sparkling wine.
Heart 0 Comment 0

Otter's Bends has place for camping in the garden and a nice communal area with a plunge pool. We plan to spend two nights here before tackling the big hill up to Villiersdorp on Thursday. We've also got a bit of work that needs to be attended to and this is a nice environment in which to do it.

Today's ride: 21 km (13 miles)
Total: 84 km (52 miles)

Rate this entry's writing Heart 1
Comment on this entry Comment 0