Bonjour Pondicherry!!

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Visiting Pondicherry was dream came true to me for two reasons one to visit Sri Aurobindo Ashram,Auroville and second one to taste French cuisine. I was in Pondicherry from 29thDec 2008 to 3rdJan2009.

Pondicherry is a Union Territory of India 160 KM from Chennai and well conected by road. It is a former French colony, consisting of four non-contiguous enclaves, or districts, and named for the largest, Pondicherry.
A remarkable degree of French influence in Pondicherry exists to this date. Pondicherry divided into three quarters French, Muslim and Tamil.
The best place to hang out is French quarter.

During my Pondicherry visit I was staying at Villa Labourdonnais located at 25 rue Labourdonnais.
It is home stay run by a French old fellow Gerad. He is a nice person; so does his family.
They take care of everything while ur stay. the place is exactly opposite to "Satsanga Restaurant" which is quite a famous among foreign travelers in Pondy(the local people called Pondicherry as Pondy).
At Villa Labourdonnais the room rent is Rs.400 (9 US$) per day.
The room was spacious having refrigerator, hot shower and nice beds.
What u can expect more for mere 9US$?? U will also get morning breakfast for Rs50(1US$) and laundry service for Rs100(2US$) per machine cloths so that u can give round about 10-12 no of clothes for single was in Rs100.
Villa Labourdonnais is cool, safe place to stay.

There are quite more options for budget travelers like "Ganga guest house" which is far away from French Quarter or "Hotel Kanchi" which is located at RUE MARTIN.
I meet two female travelers from Denmark who were staying at "Hotel Kanchi".

The best part of Pondicherry is Goubert avenue. It’s a beautiful road along the shore of bay of Bengal.
It is always crowded in the evening time so if u want to enjoy the view and sea from here then be there in the early hours of morning.

Le Cafe is the 24 hr coffee shop located at Goubert avenue. Its cool place to have a cup of coffee in the morning witnessing magnificent sunrise or u can visit it late in the night about 1 am so that u can have a cup of coffee listening to the sounds of waves.

Man its a nice place.
The ambience of the cafe is cozy but the waiters are pathetic! For a single cup of coffee u may have to wait for 20-30 minutes.

The best way to move around in Pondy is by walk or by bicycle. U can hire motorbike only if u r visiting Repos Beach(8KM from city) or Auroville(12KM from city) or Paradise beach(10KM from city).There are quite a few motorcycle rent shop; rent for motor bike is rs150 for "no geared scooter" or rs200 for any "geared bike" .
You will need to provide some identification document as collateral and an advance of Rs500-1000.
Most of the hotels in Pondy do arrange motorbike rent arrangements.
Watch out the traffic while u drive; the traffic sense of locals is almost zero.
If u r hiring any bicycle it is cheapest rs 50 per day.

In Pondy u will feel the French Influence all over, name of the streets, hotels there are still French names and mostly cuisine. I will write about French cuisine in my next blog.

Pondy do no have beach as such.
In city there is promenade beach but it is not for sunbathing or swimming.
For sunbath and swimming best beach is Serenity beach which is 10 mins drive to north of the city.
Its is quite a nice place for sun bathing and quick dip.
Along the Serenity; there is Repos beach or Auroville beach reserved for the residents of auroville but u can hang around on this beach!

Also there is Paradise beach 8KM from city. This is located about 8 kilometers away form Pondicherry towards Cuddalore Main Road. Its tropical paradise.
u need to go by boat to reach Paradise beach; its quite lonely beach so be careful.

The best activity in Pondy is shopping; its a good shopping paradise. The best place to shop is Jawaharlal Nehru Street or RUE DUPLEX. Its always crowded. U can buy good handicraft at Auroville Boutique.

U should go for definitely cotton clothes and handicrafts.
Clothes are cheap and handicrafts were amazing at affordable prices.

That’s all!
Remaining part of my Pondy trip in next blog till then au revoir

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Photos

Drinking the sun or sea
I wish i could have done such type of concentration.