Tag Archives: Terra del Capo

La Paris Bistro dishes up generous winter comfort food and live music on Friday evenings!

I have visited La Paris estate outside Franschhoek a number of times since it opened towards the end of 2017, but never in the evening. I was invited by Chef Nico Vorster to try the evening fare and live music of the La Paris Bistro last Friday, the only day of the week on which the restaurant opens for dinner.  We loved the good music, and the cosy comfort food. Continue reading →

Paris comes to Franschhoek for Bastille Festival this weekend!

imageThe Franschhoek Bastille Festival is one of the most popular events held in this French Huguenot village, and this weekend (11 and 12 July) Franschhoek will be decked in red, white, and blue to celebrate its French roots. Even a mini Eiffel Tower is to bring Paris to Franschhoek this year!

The Franschhoek Bastille Festival Marquee will be set up next to the Franschhoek Huguenot Monument, with parking nearby. A number of Franschhoek restaurants will offer their cuisine, and Chef Marcus Continue reading →

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 21 May

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   Daniel ‘Harry Potter’ Radcliffe was spotted climbing Table Mountain yesterday.  He is in Cape Town for the filming of ‘Game Changer’.

*   Lion’s Head is closed to hikers, due to a rockfall, but Table Mountain National Park is hoping to re-open it in time for the weekend.

*   Cape Vintner Classification will be launched officially at the London Wine Fair this week, to counter the image of our country’s wines as ‘cheap and cheerful‘.  The Classification will represent the 80% of brands that make up 10% of our wine export volume, and will market quality local Continue reading →

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 18 June

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and news headlines

*   ‘People love our country and continue to visit South Africa‘, said President Jacob Zuma in his State of the Nation Address at the opening of Parliament last night. He set our country’s tourism target at 15 million visitors per year by 2017, with a revenue of R125 billion generated.

*   TripAdvisor is testing amongst a sample of American hotels a new Question and Answer service on listed property pages, so that guests can request further information before they book, including  for example questions such as the cost of a mini-bar, availability of tickets to attractions at reception, opening times of the pool, etc.   Other travelers and the property can answer the questions. Hotels in the same town are not allowed to answer about another hotel in the discussion forums.

*   Much admired and liked Eat Out Top 10 Chef Jackie Cameron from Hartford House is leaving the KwaZulu-Natal hotel at the end of July, to open Jackie Cameron’s School of Food and Wine in Hilton in January next year. Continue reading →