People driving along the N1 (the national highway, which eventually reaches Johannesburg) see the massive granite boulders of Paarl high up on the hillside.
Paarl is Afrikaans for 'pearl' and the town really fits it's name. In the town centre, this large Dutch Reformed church is an example of the beautiful buildings found there:
But our main reason for visiting Paarl was to see the Afrikaans Taal Monument situated on Paarl rock. It is one of the most famous Afrikaans monuments erected in South Africa and dedicated to the Afrikaans language. The monument is shaped in several tall obelisk-style columns and is visible a great distance from Paarl.
When you approach the monument you realise that it is most unusual. It is impossible to take one single photo, which encompasses the whole monument, so here are a few of its different aspects:
There is a graph-like quality to the monument, with the heights of the different sections representing different contributions to the Afrikaans language. The columns here represent Western European languages and the humps represent Africa's indigienous languages and cultures. The curves of these two elements form a bridge which is the base of the main column...
... which represents the origin and development of Afrikaans and the shorter one the Republic of South Africa.
It stands in water to signify that the language needs care to grow...
...and is open ended to indicate that the growth of Afrikaans is a continuing process. It is 57m high.
This is looking out from the base towards the indigenous language 'humps'...
...and this is looking towards the base from those 'humps'.
There are also two small columns, representing the contribution from the Malay language and culture, but I don't have a photo of them.
These words sum up the attitude towards the Afrikaans language by many South Africans:
'It is our pride'.
From Paarl we travelled to Franschhoek (which means French Corner). The Huguenot memorial Museum is dedicated to French protestant refugees who fled France in the early 18th century, following persecution for their faith.
This is the Huguenot Memorial set against the craggy mountains...
...and this represents the French bringing their culture to the tip of Africa. (A lake stood between the scupture and the grass, so it was very difficult to take this photo.)
The gardens had some enormous protea flowers...
...and nearby is the Museum, which sadly we had to dash round.
On our journey home we passed a garden centre with seasonal advertising...
...which initially I thought was to act as scarecrows!
Then, another day I took Helena and Jaco to the Castle of Good Hope, in Cape Town.
This is the main entrance with bell tower above - the oldest bell in South Africa.
This ancient omnibus wasn't just for decoration. Later on two magnificent horses were harnessed to it, exiting the castle to travel round the Cape Town streets - for an extra fee.
The horses performed another function: demonstrating the quiet effect of a wooden road, constructed specificially for the Governor who slept directly above it.
This is the original road, the sleepers placed vertically and embedded in tar, and it really was a lot quieter than the other paving surrounding it.
We watched an old ceremony for opening the castle doors...
... and had a guided tour of the dungeons and torture chambers.
This is the story of the Three Guns:
Great-big Gun...
...Middle-sized Gun...
and Tiny-little Gun...
But like all other guns, it can make a lot of noise, when fired!
To round off our day in the city, I had booked a high-tea at the opulent Mount Nelson Hotel, a colonial establishment, famous for its afternoon delights:
We could return to the table as many times as we liked and we nearly rolled out of there, such were the wonderful cakes and pastries.
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