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My Cape Town

I spent one of the most memorable holidays of my life on a bicycle. Perhaps ‘on’ is misleading.  Most of the month was spent pushing the cursed thing up hills in the rain, too inept to sort out the faulty gear system, too pathetic to pedal hard and too scared that I might have to stop pedalling and put my feet down, inevitably causing the unwieldy weight of the badly-packed panniers to tip the bike over and scrape yet another chunk of flesh from the inside of my leg.  Oh, the misery.

I am therefore filled with admiration and awe at the 35,000 cyclists who will joyously converge on Cape Town this month to take part in the annual Pick ’n Pay Argus Cycle Tour.  It is billed as one of the most spectacular events in the cycling calendar, covering a gruelling 109km of breathtaking mountain and ocean views.  Perhaps that is incentive enough to push to the front of the pack – who wants this scenery spoiled by a lot of bobbing bottoms?

Needless to say, Cape Town will grind to a halt that day.  As it happens we have been putting in a bit of practice recently with regulated power cuts or what are happily called ‘rolling blackouts’ across the province.  It seems a hapless engineer left his sandwiches in one of the generators at the Koeberg power plant and it took a while to scrape the egg off the walls.  Or something.  Rumour has it that it may be a while before everything is shipshape, so my apologies to those of you who have been trying to get hold of me only to have your emails bounce back.  Please persist and don’t assume I’m in the bar trying to induce a rolling blackout of my own. 

Daisy

www.capeconcierge.co.za

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House of the Month

A former packing-house in one of the most picturesque towns of the Cape winelands, La Residence has been stylishly converted into a palatial villa with handsome furnishings hand-picked from around the world.  Situated on a private estate, it even produces its own wine, its own olive oil and its own marmalade. 

Surrounded by wine farms and mountains, it is so secluded that even the closest neighbours were unaware when celebrities such as Bono and Elton John spent a few restful days here.  And yet it is within a short walk of the humming main street of Franschhoek with its vibrant café life and renowned gourmet restaurants.

The main room of the house is the stunningly sumptuous double height drawing room, with a vast fireplace topped by a huge antique French mirror.  This is the central hub of the house, with various double doors leading into the hall, the kitchen, and out to the pool and the many verandas. 

The master suite takes up the whole of the upper floor of the south wing, with two dressing rooms and probably the grandest bathroom in the Western Cape.  The other four bedrooms each open into the cool cloisters surrounding the pool.  Each is uniquely decorated and all are luxurious.

Guests are welcome to wander in to the farmhouse kitchen, though those parties who book the whole house will have a chef permanently on standby. 

This singularly indulgent establishment is run by a superb team of staff who ensure their guests feel like royalty.

Individual rooms from R 1 650 per night per person sharing (B&B and evening canapés)
Whole house (5 suites) from R 15 000 per night full board

For more information, contact me on .

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Upcoming Events

APPLETISER KIRSTENBOSCH SUMMER SUNSET CONCERTS
Every Sunday 27 November to 2 April 
A chance to drink wine and picnic in one of the most spectacular concert venues in South Africa, the stage framed by the backdrop of Table Mountain. 

ONE DAY INTERNATIONAL: SOUTH AFRICA v AUSTRALIA
3 March
South Africa take on Australia at Newlands in Cape Town in the second ODI match of the Australian cricket tour to South Africa.

CAPE TOWN FESTIVAL
5 - 25 March
Cape Town welcomes a wave of sizzling talent from the arts, culture and heritage sectors.  The best in original South African and international music, performance, public art, comedy, spoken word and visual arts is featured under the banner of Celebrating Ubuntu (Humanity).

BRYAN ADAMS - ROOM SERVICE TOUR
7 March
International superstar Bryan Adams returns to South Africa to perform all time favourite hits and tracks from his 11th studio album, Room Service, which debuted at Number 1 on the Billboard European Top 100 Albums Chart. 

CAPE ARGUS PICK 'N PAY CYCLE TOUR
12 March
A highlight on both the professional and amateur cyclists calendar, this is the world's largest individually timed cycle race, with over 35 000 cyclists tackling a 109km route around Cape Town.
 
5 DAY TEST MATCH: SOUTH AFRICA v AUSTRALIA
16 - 20 March
South Africa take on Australia at Newlands in Cape Town in the first Test match of the Australian cricket tour.

FATBOY SLIM JOINS THE COCA-COLA COLAB
25th March
The Coca-Cola Colab Massive Mix is the biggest international music festival SA has ever seen, taking place over 12 hours! Fatboy Slim will head an impressive line-up of artists including State Far Better, Flat Stanley, Simple Plan, Collective Soul, The Rasmus, Seether, Prime Circle, The Finkelsteins and The Parlotones.

TOTAL SPORTS XTERRA SA SERIES
25 - 26 March
The world premier off-road, multi-sport event and part of the Global Xterra circuit which now takes place in 15 countries around the world.  Televised event.

SYMPHONY OF FIRE
29 March - 8 April
An exquisite fireworks display accompanied by a breathtaking symphony of sounds.   Three teams of the world’s most talented and accomplished pyro-technicians compete for top honours.

CAPE TOWN INTERNATIONAL JAZZ FESTIVAL
31 March - 1 April
The Cape Town International Jazz Festival (formerly known as The North Sea Jazz Festival) is officially dubbed 'Africa's Grandest Gathering' and boasts an impressive line-up of the world's top jazz artists.
 
ROBBIE WILLIAMS - WORLD TOUR
13 April
Dubbed by the media as the world tour of the century, Robbie Williams will open this tour in South Africa and play in a total of 13 countries for 1.6 million fans worldwide.

PICASSO ART EXHIBITION
13 April - 21 May
More than 63 paintings, drawings and sculptures on loan from the Musée Picasso in Paris will be exhibited in the company of classical African pieces from South African collections.

OLD MUTUAL TWO OCEANS MARATHON
15 April
The world's most beautiful marathon attracts approximately 20 000 participants every year.

THE CAPE EPIC MOUNTAIN BIKE RACE
22 April - 29 April
This third annual epic mountain bike race involves 800 mountain bikers from 29 countries riding more than 900 gruelling kilometres through the magnificent scenery of the Western Cape.

UMOYA WE-AFRIKA TRADITIONAL MUSIC FESTIVAL
27 April
A celebration of South Africa's Freedom Day with 180 performers and traditional food in the vibrant atmosphere of an African dance festival in Khayelitsha.

CAPE GOURMET FESTIVAL
5 - 22 May
South Africa's premier food, wine and lifestyle event takes over the Mother City for a fortnight of feasting featuring events including the Table of Unity, The Cape Town Coffee Route, Restaurant Week, the Good Food & Wine Show and the Gourmet Signature Banquet.
 
FIRST NATIONAL FESTIVAL OF GOLF
8 - 16 July
An exceptional opportunity for golf enthusiasts from around the world to enjoy some of South Africa's finest golf courses.  The festival was created for amateur golfers who play for the sheer love of the game.

ISUZU BERG RIVER CANOE MARATHON
11 – 15 July 
The Isuzu Berg River Canoe Marathon, a 202km race that has been held annually for over 40 years, is the longest canoe race in South Africa and one of the most strenuous and gruellling in the world.

STELLENBOSCH WINE FESTIVAL
3 - 5 August
More than 100 top Stellenbosch Wine Producers showcase their wines.