Tom and I decided that we had to at least take a weekend and DO SOMETHING while I'm India. There just isn't that much to do or see in Chennai, it is not a tourist hot-spot. So, we decided that a drive to Pondicherry for the weekend was something we could easily do that wouldn't be too expensive and wouldn't involve buying plane tickets. On Saturday, May 8 we left Chennai in the morning for the 2 1/2 drive south on the ECR (East Coast Road) to Pondicherry.
Pondicherry is the former capital of French India and the heyday of Pondicherry dates from the arrival of the French governor Dupleix, who accepted the governorship in 1742 and immediately set about rebuilding a town decimated by its former British occupants. It was he who instituted the street plan of a central grid encircled by a broad oblong boulevard, bisected north to south by a canal.
Pondicherry was relinquished by the French in 1954 and became the headquarters of the Union Territory of Pondicherry. Pondicherry still retains its French history with French road names (every street is Rue whatever) and policemen in De Gaulle-style kepis, not to mention hearing French spoken in the streets. There are many Europeans staying long-term in Pondicherry and many people who have come on a spiritual quest to Sri Aurobindo Ashram.
Pondicherry is right on the Bay of Bengal with a nice and relatively clean shoreline. Much of this area was destroyed by the tsunami in 2004 but was quickly rebuilt, although there are still signs of how bad the damage really was.
The best thing for me about Pondicherry was the food. We arrived on Saturday early afternoon and after a siesta in our room at the Hotel du Parc, went out in search of dinner. Our trusty "Rough Guide to India" book once again led us to all the right places. Saturday night dinner was at Satsanga, where we feasted on Tzatziki (a dip of yogurt, cucumber, and garlic) with garlic bread, mashed potatoes (how they made the mashed potatoes so tasty without sour cream I will never know), french fries, and......STEAK. I had the filet with mushroom cream sauce and Tom had the filet with garlic butter and parsley sauce. So fabulous!!
After dinner Saturday night we went to the Goubert Salai, the beachside promenade, where we walked a little bit and then sat on the rocks and watched the tide come in. The coolness of the sea spray was so refreshing after the sweltering heat and humidity of the day.
Sunday morning we walked down the street to Ananda Bhavan Sweets for some of the best coffee I have ever had. Then we dressed for the day and went to Le Club for Sunday brunch. We had the basic breakfast: eggs, toast, juice, and coffee but for some reason it was so good!
After breakfast we checked out of the hotel and spent the rest of the morning driving around Pondicherry. It would have been really nice if we could have walked around Pondicherry but the heat and humidity is almost debilitating so walking was out of the question. We did get out of the car briefly back at the Goubert Salai so that I could get pics of the Bay of Bengal in the daylight. We watched all of the kids swimming at the beach area and tried to ignore the stares of the people as I was the ONLY white person among probably 75 or more Indians.
We decided to have lunch at La Terrasse, again recommended by our trusted guide book. We had the mixed vegetable salad, which was sliced cucumbers, tomatoes, and carrot with a wonderful garlic vinaigrette (they don't have lettuce in India), a bowl of sweet corn chicken soup (I have only had this in India and it is the BEST soup), and a wood-fired prawn pizza. Out of this world!!
After lunch we were on the road back to Chennai. I have posted lots of pictures of the Pondicherry weekend on my Facebook page.
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