Imagine being locked in a room and being told that as long as you stay there, you may eat as much chocolate as you like.

If that's not heaven to you then I don't know what is - and it's a lot more accessible than you'd think.

The Franschhoek Valley is about an hour's drive from Cape Town and its beauty can restore your faith in the divine - the mountains and vineyards are breathtaking and this little slice of heaven produces some of the finest food and wine in the Western Cape.

There are more than 40 wine farms in the region, and nearly as many restaurants, many of them award-winning. The Tasting Room at Le Quartier Francais, for example, has earned not only many local accolades, but international ones too.

In Franschhoek you can indulge in all the finer things in life, chocolate being one of them. At Huguenot Fine Chocolates (021 876 4096) you can have what they call a Chocolate Experience. Suitable for all ages, the half-hour programme includes the story of chocolate and how it is made, a demonstration of how chocolates are made, and a chocolate tasting.

A chocolatier will guide you through all of this, and explain the differences between dark, milk and white chocolate (which is not really chocolate at all). You also get to sample some of the filled chocolates that have been demonstrated in their various stages of production.

And if you're really keen, they'll wrap a paper piping bag and fill it from the churning chocolate machine so you can squeeze it decadently straight into your mouth. Like I said, heaven.

"I don't like it when people say no to chocolate," said chocolatier Josh Juries. "And I always tell them that as long as you're in this room, you can eat as much chocolate as you like. When you go outside, you pay," he quips.

You can linger in that wonderful temperature-controlled room for about half an hour without outstaying your welcome, and then you can go downstairs and select some handmade chocolates to take home with you. You also get a little box with two chocolates included in the Chocolate Experience, which costs R25.

Huguenot Fine Chocolates was founded as part of an empowerment project and has just celebrated its 10th anniversary. In 1997, the Belgian government sent Danver Windvogel and Denver Adonis to Belgium for 18 months to train for diplomas in chocolate making. When they got back, they opened the chocolaterie.

Belgium, of course, manufactures some of the finest chocolate in the world, most of which is grown in Africa, and it is only Belgian chocolate that is used at Huguenot.

Juries told us that they not only made chocolates for many hotels, restaurants and South African Airways, but also made up anything you wanted, to order. "Whatever you can imagine in a chocolate, we can make it," he promises.

While Franschhoek likes to bill itself as the gourmet capital of the world, there are plenty of other outdoor activities and interesting things to do, such as taking in the scenery by hiking, cycling, or riding horses through the vineyards. There are also golf, fly fishing and paragliding.

If you like old cars, we recommend you visit the Franschhoek Motor Museum (021 874 9000) on L'Ormarins Wine Estate, which is open on Tuesdays to Sundays, to see its amazing collection of vintage and veteran cars. If history is what you're after, the Huguenot Memorial Museum (021 876 2532) is where you should be headed. Open every day, it "reflects the persecution of the Huguenots, their flight, settlement and contributions to South Africa".

It is virtually impossible to pinpoint the wine estates you absolutely should visit, but some of my favourite wines come from Boschendal, where you can go for gourmet picnics on the lawn, Cabricre, and Graham Beck. There are often festivals in the valley, most recently the Magic of Bubbles, which celebrated the MCC (methode cap classique) wines of the Western Cape along with more fabulous food.

In recognition of the region's French heritage, Bastille Day is observed in fine style.

Besides the annual shindigs, there is live jazz every Friday during summer at La Brasserie (021 876 3420), and monthly classical music concerts at La Motte (021 876 3119).

Somehow, we keep coming back to food - try your hand at bread baking at Bread & Wine on Moreson Farm on most Saturdays. It's an all-day affair and includes your bread, lunch and wine tour. Phone 021 876 3692 to book.

With careful planning, you can make a day trip to Franschhoek, but it makes so much more sense to spend stay overnight or longer. From bed and breakfasts and self-catering places to five-star luxury, there are more than 100 establishments from which to choose.

We stayed at Mont Rochelle (021 876 2770), which is set in the heart of the vineyards yet close enough to everything to be convenient.

Accommodation there ranges from a basic room all the way up to lavish suites in which you could almost get lost, and which come complete with private swimming pool and a vast jacuzzi bath big enough for two. It's all very romantic, and chances are you won't want to come out for any reason, not even to eat. But that's why room service was invented.

If you can tear yourself away, dinner at Mange Tout restaurant is well worth the effort, but breakfast in the room, complete with bubbly, orange juice and weekend newspapers, is the only way to travel.

The only problem with Franschhoek is that once you're there, you're going to find it very difficult to leave.