Puducherry

“ The French Rivera of the east”

• Anonymous

Puducherry more commonly known as Pondy made famous in the book Life of Pi, headquarters for the French east India company, the second best exotic marigold hotel did a lot of filming hear, and its a short distance from Auroville (more later). It is a former French colonial headquarters for there settlements in India which France controlled until 1954.

To get to Pondy we travelled south to ancient Pallava capital of Mahabalipuram, site of the UNESCO World Heritage listed cave temples. It is . believed they were built in the 7th or 8th century but were buried and not rediscovered until mid 1700 century they are in great condition and very close to the sea it’s amazing that the f sea air and tsunami have not damaged them, you can watch the surfers catch a wave to one .

Next on to Pondy once you arrive to the French side it’s like being in parts of colonial France beautiful buildings that are being restored you are on the sea the police uniform even reminds you of french police. It’s a walking city with many shops in restored buildings accessed by one way cobbled streets. There a many cafes and French style patisseries. Coffee of choice was French press

A night walk with a local to explore the Muslim market was very interesting then back to the Christian side to have dinner with a local family. Not a cooking lesson but we could watch them prepare the food. First impression was how clean everything was in the house from the shelves where the spices were to the tilted floor which I think you could eat off. We had a banquets of chicken, calamari curry, rice, a salad of sorts and fish cutlet but once it arrived it was more like a fish patty made with mackerel this was my favourite. The ladies gad minimal English but I think they understood we all enjoyed the meal. Then using tuk tuk we zoomed back to the hotel

The hotel was two story French stay building that they carefully restoring one block back from the beach in the middle of all the action it was call Palais de Mahe a lot of antique furniture and a huge room very quaint, the bed was so high off the floor I took a while to climb in, they needed 2 steps to help. Dinner one night in the roof top outside was very good, I’d been out trying to find a a cafe but couldn’t find it. The G&T was made with local gin half the price of those from the UK. For dinner I selected the mini spinach and feta cheese tart and on recommendation from the waiter the spiced grilled prawns followed by a crème caramel. They asked about the spice level I’ve leant to say low so be safe, I thought this was for the prawns but it was also for the the tart which were surprisingly spicy with I think a paprika and something else, the prawns were yummy interestingly they came with a side of coconut marinated red onions. The crème carmel was different with a coconut biscuit fused to the top it was ok.

Auroville was about a 40 minute drive form Pondy and wasn’t sure what it was exactly, in the bio says it is the city of dawn where all are equal and all are welcome they were founded by a French lady and her guru husband. It has a surreal feel that everything is beautiful and we are all welcome. They make a lot of products from weaving block print cotton, clothes and jewellery. They had multiple of shops and a cafe and many activities for youths. They educate all children and don’t need money.if live there. Yes it’s a cult that’s my thought. Only those that have made the final pledge are able to visit the inter sanctum of the Matrimandir but mere people like me could go to the view point and observe. A lot of money is being poured into it, Indian, French and German make up the most members. For those that are able to enter the matrimandir they need to book at least 5 days in advance but no guarantee they can attend. It also gets support from the government and building painted grey in Pondy are owned by them.

We a a local girls as our guide spoke beautifully but couldn’t answer questions that were challenging.

To me it’s like Myaphur where the Krishna are build a temple so much wealth so many people struggling so near them