Pondicherry.
A city divided into two halves – a movie set-esque French colonial side “White Town” with a vibrant promenade alongside the Bay of Bengal, marked with exquisite architecture, and multiple opportunities for croissants and coffee; and then you cross over Mahatma Gandhi Road, and you are back into the real India and area of Mudaliapret.
Most of the time we spent in Pondicherry, it did feel like you were in a movie roaming around as an extra as the camera rolled. We had a decent 8 days here, so we took the time to settle in and find our bearings.
French colonial buildings painted vibrant colours, beautiful lush greenery and free range hens made this a very different place to visit in India. Lots of people were riding romantic and whimsey 1940s-era bicycles. But most are on modern scooters. This was a place where we also experienced a decline in regard for pedestrians or tourists. Andrew got side-swiped by the mirror of a small van (he was fine, and wait for my story about being body-slammed by a large cow at the Ghats of Varanasi….). It was also unique to hear French language used widely, as well as there being an onslaught of French and Western European visitors to the area.
We were staying just to the north of White Town behind St Francis church, in an AirBnB 3 stories up, with glimpses of the Bay of Bengal, and a rather colourful Hindu temple, as well as a birds eye view of daily free entertainment of squirrels leaping across trees and buildings.
Immediately across the alleyway of our accommodation, there was a Revelation Church, which conducted a rigorous service every evening from 7pm – 8pm, and on Sundays from 6am until at least 9am (we left then in search of croissants). The services were extremely loud and rousing for all in proximity, even if we only understood the frequent use of “hallelujah”. There was also a chime every hour on the hour from 5am to 9pm which we think came either from the Hindu Temple or even perhaps from the St Francis Church. Either way, we were surrounded by inbuilt time pieces and a very present reminder of the diversity of religion in India and something special to be privy to.
Our time in India was bookended everyday with walking - in the morning we’d walk, then coffee and croissants, and then more walking in the afternoon. We covered a lot of ground. At this point in our trip, we did take the opportunity to unwind and relax a bit too, enjoy the sun, enjoy our balcony and let loose a little to experience the great food.
We googled the wide-ranging café spots available, chose one for the day, and then navigated our way through the streets, alleys and promenade of Pondicherry each morning to sample and devour our café mission for the day, usually as morning tea treat.
Writers Café – this place was on MG Road and provided employment and skills opportunities for individuals that had brain injuries or learning difficulties. We had two really nice meals here including an Indian / German / French style pizza, and Andrew had a very deconstructed and Indian twist on nachos which was delicious.
Hope Café – with its lovely painted backdrop of angel wings – just a coffee here, but the ambience and art was really neat.
Le Petit Four – they had both a hole in the wall and proper sit down café painted the most gorgeous turquoise colour. We had a nice coffee and croissant here, however the hygiene was a little to be desired and we kept our visit a once-off.
Hotel Le Royal Park – our little extravagance on the occasion of Valentines Day – we enjoyed a glass of rose or 2, and then followed by a lavish buffet vegetarian Indian lunch. A unique Valentines Day to remember.
Baker Street Café – a really lovely assortment of various pastries in a rather non-descript location that took some time to find. There was also an outlet on the promenade that we passed by too. We enjoyed our treats here, but waited almost 40 minutes to try for a table. Busy place and you can taste why!
Coromandel Café – which was really my favourite and housed within a building over 100 years old. We went here a few times for coffee and cake (I really like the vegan walnut banana cake) and they had a lovely spaces inside and outside to relax in little nooks surrounded by greenery. We took books on more than a few occasions to make a bit of a morning out of it.
One evening we stumbled across The Spot Restaurant at the far northern end of The Promenade – we went in on a whim and shared a pizza; enjoying the experience so much, we returned the following day for a lazy long lunch including mocktails.
Bread & Chocolate – this was quite the find on a last few days in Pondicherry – it was perched on a balcony at the back of a building, had a frightful washroom, but the menu and meals were absolutely spot on. I had this lovely concoction of toasted sourdough with lentil hummus and roast vegetables. Utterly delicious. Must try and replicate in my kitchen!
Other adventures included a trip to the Museum, which had all sorts of antiquities left behind from various eras, and included a history of Pondicherry itself – which got annihilated by the British in 1761 as part of the East India Company takeover and was completely raised to the ground. Pondicherry (or Puducherry) was a colony of the French from 1674, with the British occupations repeatedly causing disruption, until the territory was transferred to the Republic of India in 1962.
We visited the impressive Sri Manakula Vinayagar Temple, which was the controversial home of Lakshmi the elephant since being found abandoned as a calf, until she collapsed and died at the very young age of 32 from a suspected cardia arrest.
We also spent time walking the park, the Sunday Markets and generally enjoying the different vibe that this melting pot of a place presented. I also spent each morning saying hello to the hen and her 4 tiny chicks that seemed to double in size everyday. Pondicherry was very fond of poultry, with big roosters with colourful plumes of tail feathers visible in most residential places.
We also “did” another movie – this one called Vidaamuyarchi. The plot line was straightforward, the movie length very long and the volume inexplicitly loud. It was just perfect – I loved it.
One place we didn’t end up getting to was Auroville as we had a few setbacks trying to get there. This is an experimental settlement about 10kms away from Pondicherry, which was founded by Mirra Alfassa, a French-Indian spiritual guru, known to followers as The Mother, in 1968. With a population of 50,000, the vision for Auroville is to be a universal town for progressive living in harmony for people of all nations, political ideas and nationalities.
We really enjoyed our time in Pondicherry and I would very happily return here again in the future - it was really different, but still firmly India.
On our final day in Pondicherry we travelled through to the rather new and underutilized airport, where we were subjected to a dizzying array of security checks, before we were finally taken through for a body security check.
In India, this is quite literal – you are physically tapped down by a security officer to check pockets and possible weapon placements about your person.
And even more literally, that the men get tapped down on a step in public, whilst the women get whisked away into curtained off area, which has a sign that says “Ladies Frisking”. And it is a full-on affair. I was very well frisked.
There was some interest in the back part of my trousers which we did some investigation around. I have lost a little bit around my mid-section whilst in India, and was wearing a pair of thrifted mens Rodd & Gun trousers (thank you, Whakatane Op Shop) that provided me ability to tighten the waist up by using buttons at the waist to nip them in an inch more. After a lot of investigation and having demonstrated that the double-button hidden under the loop wasn’t a concealed weapon, I was allowed to enter the waiting area.
And wait we did. For hours. Until finally our IndiGo flight turned up (delayed due to bad weather conditions in Bengaluru – really?) and we arrived very late into Bengaluru and collapsed into a super comfortable bed in the very yellow and very comfortable “Bloom Hotel” on the outskirts of Bengaluru next to the Airport.
Tomorrow, off on the overnight train to much anticipated … Hampi!
This featured blog entry was written by nzfrankiebeans from the blog A Life Less Ordinary.
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