As most of you know, I’m a Francophile. I freely admit this. So, finding a bit of France in South Africa – in a town known as Franschhoek – was a pleasant surprise. Given that many of the white European settlers of South Africa came from the Netherlands, it should not be a surprise that some of these settlers were French Huguenot. And in 1688 a group of 176 such Huguenots were given land by the Dutch government in a valley called Olifantshoek or Elephant’s Corner because elephants crossed into the valley to give birth to their babies. Later the name was changed to “Le Coin Français” which means French corner in French. And subsequently the name became Franschhoek which also means French corner but this time in Dutch.
(The Huguenots were French Protestants, principally followers of John Calvin, who had fled France due to prosecution by the French government. France had earlier provided freedom of conscience to French Protestants under the Edict of Nantes in 1598. This was the act of the formerly Protestant King Henry IV of France, who renounced Protestantism and accepted Catholicism in order to be crowned King of France and be able to live in Paris. He is famous for the statement made at that time, “Paris is well worth a mass,” although there is some controversy as to whether he actually said it. However 67 years later, under a different king, Louis XIV, the Edict of Nantes was revoked and the Edict of Fontainebleu was issued. This edict led to the prosecution and exile of the French Huguenots, who might have been Protestant rather than Catholic but were nonetheless French.)
Back in Franschhoek, South Africa, there is a Huguenot Monument at one end of the town, designed by J.C. Jongens and completed in 1945.
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| Huguenot Monumnet, Franschhoek |
The symbolism of the monument is not obscure. The three high arches represent the Holy Trinity. The sun on the spire atop the middle arch is the sun of righteousness and the cross represents their Christian faith. The female figure represents religious freedom with a bible in one hand and a broken chain in the other. The cloak she is discarding is the cloak of oppression and she stands on top of the globe to show spiritual freedom. There is a fleur-de-lis on her robe because she is, after all, French even after all these many years. On the globe, at the southern tip (where South Africa lies) are symbols of the Huguenots’ religion (bible), art and culture (harp), agriculture (corn sheaf), viticulture (grape vine), and industry (spinning wheel). In the front of the monument is a water pond which expresses the undisturbed tranquility of mind and spiritual peace the Huguenots experienced here in Franschhoek after so much conflict and strife.
I have to admit that I find the description of the symbolism interesting, although not compelling. My source is the Wikipedia article on the monument, which cites no authority for its statements, a rare occurrence in Wikipedia and even rarer there is no noting or questioning that lack of citation of authority.
Franschhoek is a small and fairly quiet town, at least on the winter day that we visited it.
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| Franschhoek |
The town is by no means exclusively French. For example, this homage to bacon complete with a couple of angelic pigs in the front of the restaurant.
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| Mmm - Bacon |
You probably can’t read the handwritten sign in the middle of the picture but it states one of the “favourites” of the restaurant is “bacon bread French toast, maple syrup, cinnamon sugar and streaky bacon” pronouncing it as “porktastic!” (Exclamation mark in the original.) (For those of you who haven’t been exposed to the food of our cousins across the pond, streaky bacon is their name for what we call simply bacon. Bacon in the UK is a leaner and more like, but not exactly, what we call Canadian bacon.)
The town has a number of picturesque little alleys.
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| Franschhoek Alley |
as well as some shopping arcades that could be mistaken for those in Paris.
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| Shopping Arcade |
Signs in the town often express a very French attitude.
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| French Attitude (with Which I Agree) |
The blending of the French with the South African is seen in such things as this piece of cloth which with something that should be the official emblem of Franschhoek (but probably isn’t).
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| Probably Not the Official Emblem |
The inclusion of elephants in the emblem seems very appropriate once you know the former name of this area (given earlier in this post). There are elephants combined with French motifs in other places in Franschhoek as well.
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| Elephant Head Cork Holder |
Street names are what must be described as a mashup between French and Dutch.
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| What Language? |
Sometimes we find that well-known extension of French influence (although they would protest mightily at my stating so), namely the Walloon portion of Belgium.
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| Mmm - Chocolate |
Franschhoek has a restaurant that Wikipedia says has won an award as one of the 50 best restaurants in the world. The restaurant, The Tasting Room at Le Quartier Français ranked #36 on the 2011 list but is not to be found on the list in 2014. The following photo is of some restaurant in Franschhoek that is probably not an award winner but is definitely a very picturesque place to have a meal (which we did not have).
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| Restaurant |
It is not only the town itself, but the surrounding area that gives Franschhoek its reputation as one of the nicest places to live in South Africa. So, as we now leave Franschhoek to go to Cape Town, we get a glimpse of that surrounding area.
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| Countryside |
Yes, those are waterfalls a bit off center to the right. I think they are highly seasonal but picturesque none the less.
Next stop – Cape Town.
Link to Full Resolution Photos
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