Stellenbosch

We drove to Stellenbosch yesterday along the N2. This is a major road in South Africa but it is bordered by farmland, forest and mountains.  It is also not a dual carriageway.  There are certainly places where it is possible to overtake slower vehicles  but these are a sometimes rather than a constant.   So the journey from Rheenendal took us something like 6 hours.  

We did have a late lunch stop at the Blue Crane, a pretty café near Swellendam.  “Look” said Marjory, when we went in to pay the bill, “They’re selling perfumes here too”. At this point the owner, descended upon us and, backing us into the small enclosed perfume corner, gave us a very hard sell indeed.  The perfume line comprised those copies  which you can buy in UK markets for a fiver a bottle.   Marjory escaped by pleading a loo visit and left me alone.    I  was successfully bullied into buying  the smallest possible bottle, but managed to hold out against the claim that the next size up was far better value.  It was wrapped up for me very nicely, though.  The owner was British and had come to South Africa 10 years ago with a now divorced husband.  “Angels,” she said, “I do believe in angels" as she handed me my change.

Apple Tree Guest House at Stellenbosch is a kind and tidy place with bright rooms tucked away behind the obligatory South African security gate.  Our twin bedded room could be a bit bigger but it is beautifully arranged and we even have a mutli coloured plastic duck in our bathroom, though as we both prefer showers to baths we are unlikely to use it.  But there is a pool outside in a pretty courtyard.

 

We drove the car down to what we were told was the café area of Stellenbosch.  The usual parking man seized upon us and demanded 20 rand for watching the car.  I admit I’m still not used to this, but 20 rand isn’t that much in the general scheme of things.  And I don’t know what happens if you don’t give them 20 rand, possibly all sorts of carnage.

The café area was mostly full of loud students having a good time in fast food places, but we did find a grill restaurant famed for its steaks, then both ordered fish.  The couple at the next table told us about their family.  They have four sons, one of whom still lives at home.  As he is over 30 they know he should leave, but they really like having him around.  And he's a good cook.   

Another son and his wife and children are in America.  This son loves his job but their daughter in law is cold. “She says she can’t get warm.  She drives to work in Chicago every day and her feet are freezing.”  I said how I had removed my winter coat and boots and left them with my husband on a snowy day at Charles de Gaulle airport.  When we parted, Marjory and I hoped that their family in America would not freeze to death and they hoped that my husband would be waiting with a warm coat when I disembarked my plane in France.