Franschhoek and beyond: another note from the Bibliomaniac June 18 2015

It was a Bibliiomaniac's dream come true.

There I was walking the streets of Franschhoek and minding my own business (a rare occasion) and to my delight I crossed paths  with Sarah Waters .

Of course I had to stop her, swoon a little, (there is lots of swooning going on in Franschhoek during the literary festival) and request an inscription for my book.

The fact that the book was in the car was a minor problem. She signed my notebook instead.

But I have three of her books...

Could I ask her for three inspirational messages?

Discretion prevailed and I am now the proud owner of one very special message from Sarah Waters in my now very precious notebook ...which may just have to live in the glass fronted bookcase amongst other literary giants.

It will have good company.

But I digress..

Picture it

Beautiful scenery

Fine wines.

Gourmet food

AND books and readers and authors everywhere!

Heaven!

The joy of Franschoek is who you meet in incongruous places.

Sarah Waters on the street.

Justin Cartwright in a restaurant (yes I interrupted lunch for a signature. I had the book with me that time)

Stopping the gorgeous Romain for yet another signature and another swoon.

Only a French man could pull off the ensemble of a  fashionable suit , orange  shoes completed with a bright yellow scarf.

The inimitable Jenny Crwyss Williams at lunch

The list goes on and on.

And in between there were the talks and panel discussions .

And the dissection afterwards with a glass of red in hand.

There seemed to be tables of wine everywhere...

And then we had to come home.

And read all those books that we had bought .

And wonder why our jeans felt just a tad tighter than when we left.

But most importantly we had to start planning our visit to the Franschhoek literary festival in 2016.

.