Day 75: Indulgent Lunch at La Petite Ferme in Franschhoek

Another brilliant morning on the Auberge Clermont property. Blinding sunlight, cool breeze, stunning surroundings. First things first: race outside to check on the tadpoles and frogs in the pond.

We had breakfast in our own kitchen. James is still a cereal man, and Willa’s into toast. Both love yogurt and Nutella (duh). Breakfast continues to be a huge mess of a meal.

Next up: School. Even with really bad days (yesterday was one for me and Willa — “school is boooooooooring” blah blah) I feel like we’re hitting our stride. Only took three months. We have our little rhythm, our stuff we’re working on, our routines and–actual progress! Doesn’t feel as scattershot and random as it did in the beginning. It also seems like Willa knows she isn’t getting out of it, and that whining/sassing/crying doesn’t make it go away, it just makes it longer.

We do about 90 minutes to 2 hours a day on non-travel days, me with Willa, Teddy with James. Willa’s working on regrouping in addition and fundamentals of subtraction. We’re also doing lots of reading out loud, journaling and spelling words!! James is a sight word master and loving his math games and puzzles.

Around lunchtime we headed up the road to La Petite Ferme, a vineyard restaurant we’d been recommended by several friends. The view was spectacular — a few outdoor tables under some trees on a patio overlooking a sweeping view of vines, orchards and mountains below. There weren’t other kids there, but ours were very well behaved at the table. We indulged in a yummy three-course lunch (prix fixe was ~$30/pp!) and some wine — probably our only big fancy wineland meal, so we went for it.

The kids romped a little while on the grass after we settled up, but we agreed our house was more pleasant — fewer people to bother, more stuff to explore, better view. So we headed home to ride bikes, read, see the dogs.

We cooked dinner at home.

Random:

We’re genuinely confused/baffled: People all over the world listen to videos on their phones at full volume without headphones — on airplanes, in restaurants, at solemn tourist spots, etc. In New York too. Our question is: Do they think others can’t hear what they’re watching, or do they know others can hear and simply not care? What is that??

There are some great first names in South Africa. Trevor Noah explains in his book (amazing) that black South Africans often name their children for aspirations. Already on this trip we’ve met a Lovers, a Justice and a Blessing.

The countryside often experiences “loadshedding,” which is when they shut off the power for  scheduled stretches of time to save energy. Our house has a generator, but it takes about a minute to kick in once the power goes out. Tonight the power went out right when James was going potty in our bathroom, leaving him in the pitch black — and he went absolutely ballistic screaming in panic. Poor guy. I came in with a flashlight and calmed him down, and then the lights all came on. It was quite a reaction!