Beaches, French style brick roads, laid back lifestyle, French cuisine, sari clad aged women on bicycle...Pondicherry. We stayed in the house of a French lady, Patricia Michel. There are many more available in the net. Her house was on Rue Francois Martin;- the second lane from the sea-shore and a minute's walk from Aurobindo Ashram. We wanted to visit Pondicherry the French way, trying to take in the flavor of the French life there; food, home, alleys with their name written in white on a blue board, the Aurobindo Ashram and the sea.
One can spend hours on the Rue Goubert (Beach Road) eating, buying small-little things or just sitting on the rocks. We sat on the rock and watched the sea slowly moving closer with the tide and moistening our eyes, face, camera lenses. Night fell and we went to 'The Promenade' for dinner. They were doing barbecue in the terrace restaurant with a view of the old light house and the sea of course. Amazingly romantic place.
After the dinner it started raining and we walked along the empty Beach Road in the drizzle. It was fun. Even if you are not so lucky to get rains, try to come to the Beach Road at night when it is empty. You will never forget it.
Next day we visited Auroville, the self-sufficient village with handicrafts, pottery and eco-friendly lifestyle. After seeing the Matrimandir, we went to the Quiet Beach and took bath in the sea. Though Podicherry has no beach for bathing, you will find a few like this within 10 km from the city. Then we came back to the city to see the Ashram. There was a few shops in the Ashram and around it; we did shopping. The evening we sat on the rocks watching the sea again.
Today's plan was a French dinner at the most popular place among the French here; 'Satsanga'. service, ambiance, food;-were great. We spent hours drinking and having dinner.
Next morning we had French breakfast at Patricia's house and started our journey back. We were on the highway with lot of stories and memories of our French connection.
J'aime Pondicherry
ReplyDelete