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| Pondicherry is now officially known as Puducherry. In Tamil Puducherry means "New Town" |
If weekend getaways from Bangalore city is in your mind...then Pondicherry is one of the places you need to be. It's approximately a 6 hour drive. We've been there a couple of times and I'd be happy to go there again. My uncle is settled in Pondicherry with his family, so accommodation hasn't been a problem for us.....but there are many hotels, home stays and B&B's available, given the fact that it is a tourist place, having people visiting almost every weekend.
Pondicherry is one of the Union Territories of India, but it used to be a French colony, many years ago. Some of the streets still retain French names, like the Romain Rolland Street, Bussy Street, La Bourdannaise Street...and many more fascinating names that I can't recall. Then another common sight are the villas in French architectural styles...all so beautiful. There are also a lot of little cafes and bakeries, especially in White Town. Probably it's because of so much French influence here, that Pondicherry is also known as "The French Riviera of the East".
The Seaside Promenade is the landmark of Pondicherry.
It is approximately 1.5 km stretch of beachfront along the Bay of Bengal.
In the morning, along with a view of the sunrise, we had a good walk on the well constructed pavements. There is a nice statue of Mahatma Gandhi, which is surrounded by eight granite pillars, which i was told was brought from Gingee Fort, a fort some 70 km from Pondicherry.
From there we walked towards the White Town, and had a nice continental breakfast from this little cafe called Daily Bread. Their freshly baked croissants, Danish, Spanish omelets and coffee were really good. Our kids loved their brownies a lot.
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| La Maison Rose |
During the day, we explored around the streets of White Town...and also did a bit of street shopping.
But it was the yellow and white buildings with French architectural styles that amazed me.
For lunch, we halted at La Maison Rose, a nice laid back French restaurant. It's an old French villa, that has a boutique that sells clothes & handicrafts inside and a courtyard seating arrangement as the hotel. The atmosphere was very calm and the food was delicious.
Next we went to the Serenity Beach, which is a little far from Pondicherry town. It was difficult to find it, since there were no sign boards anywhere, but the local people were kind enough to guide us through. The sea was rough so we didn't get into the water. We spent some time there by the shore and headed back to town.
In the evening, we went back to the Promenade. We were surprised to see that what appeared to be a serene & calm place in the morning was so lively in the evening. There were alot of people walking on the streets & pavements, some seated on the benches and some by the rocks looking into the sea. Kids were having fun playing with blow bubbles and party blowers....and so many other little toys which were been sold at very reasonable prices. There were many food on carts been sold too.
We went back to the Daily Bread cafe for dinner, where we had the Coq au vin & Lasagne. They were yumm & reasonably priced. Our trip was done and next day morning, we headed back to Bangalore. If anyone is travelling to Pondicherry, i would suggest you wear cotton and stay hydrated, because it's really really hot !!!!
Just like the punch line of Pondicherry Tourism goes - "Give time a break".... Pondicherry is a must visit.
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