It was the end of Diwali vacation and we (me and my husband) had decided that we were done with our travel quota for this year and we will plan our next trips in the coming year. But as always it happened just the opposite. My son announced that he is having five days break after the completion of his semester exams. He stays in Vellore and was against the idea of coming home to Valsad, so we all decided to meet in Chennai and then from there visiting nearby places. I have seen that whenever we have gone unprepared for any trip it has turned out to be a pleasant surprise 😃😃 .
And we started in the morning from Chennai by road. Online bookings have really made many things easy and cheaper too. We did not have to negotiate for the car fare, room booking or fare as everything could be done online even comparison of cost too. Well our journey by road was comfortable as the weather was pleasant and cool because of clouds and good chances of rains. In addition the coastal road was scenic. It was a three hours journey from Chennai. My son had visited the place and described many times and we could find the same liking for the place the moment we entered the city. We had selected white town for the stay as most of the sightseeing points were close by.
Pondicherry (or Puducherry) popularly known as Pondy was a French colonial settlement in India until 1954, is now a Union Territory town bounded by the southeastern Tamil Nadu state. Its French legacy is preserved in its French Quarter, with tree-lined streets, mustard-colored colonial villas and chic boutiques. A seaside promenade runs along the Bay of Bengal and passes several statues, including a 4m-high Gandhi Memorial. It has a character mix of French colonial hangover & Tamil culture.In addition to that there is spirituality too; in an alternative spiritual township that Sir Aurobindo started here known as Auroville
You can spend your time roaming around the French Quarters or trying out world cuisines in the cute cafes and this you can do either walking or you can hire a two wheeler of your choice. Both ways it is a unique experience. The town is planned in such a way that you can find your way easily anywhere. Proper blocks , straight roads and names of every street make it easy to identify your way. Our plan was to spend three days in the town.
Day 1 : we reached around noon and we were little tired also from the road trip from Chennai so we ordered the lunch on Swiggy which came by the time we had freshened up. We took rest till 3:30 and then started for a walk to Rocky beach, on the our plan was to check out the vehicle rentals and few good food joints. The walk from our hotel to the Beach was around 10 minutes and walk on the beach was around 45 -50 minutes one way. Since the weather was cloudy it was comfortable to walk.
The walk at the Promenade, reminded us of Mumbai's Marine Drive, but posing as a better & cleaner version of it!
The important points of visit are almost on same route of the beach Gandhi statue, French war memorial, the light house etc. we had coffee and sandwiches at The aura Café which was really good and refreshing. We tasted the spinach quiche ( never heard before but it looked tempting) which is a French dish.
We visited the 500-year old Sri Manakula Vinayagar Temple of Ganesha where I was blessed by an elephant and ended the walk with a nice hot coffee at the KBS Stall in a small lane near the Secretariat on the Promenade.
Day 2: Although our plan was to get up early in the morning to visit the beach to view the sunrise. As I live on western part of India so we are used to watching the sun set in the sea but I was excited about watching the sunrise. But we couldn’t make it as it had rained heavily whole night and in the morning too the sky was cloudy so we avoided going to beach at that time. After taking the breakfast at the hotel we went out to rent bullets. Our plan was to go to Auroville and come back by noon so to we can go for lunch at the Sky Garden restaurant. But everything doesn’t go as per our plan, one of the bike stopped working near the Pondicherry Medical College and we had to call for help to the bike rentals. Now as the temperature was rising so we decided to go to Auroville after lunch.
When we reached the Sky Garden restaurant for lunch it was not open because of the heavy rains in the night it needed a lot of cleaning. So we decided o go to The Pasta Bar Veneto which was on the opposite side of the road and by its looks I was tempted to go there. Ambience was good too as was
the food.
So we started for Auroville ,A place where you feel that you have come into some different world. A peaceful place spread in acres with Matri Mandir in the centre. You automatically switch to meditation mode when you are sitting at this place.
Day 3: Early morning we could go to see the sunrise at the beach because it had rained less at night. And then we went for breakfast at the Bakers Street. Really delicious food a taste which will last for long in our memories.
Remaining day was spent in visiting the local market and few temples and churches.
In the end I would just say if you want a trip to relax yourself Pondicherry is the Place ; A great combination of good food and mesmerizing location which can be done in limited budget too.
Few more pics to show the beauty of the place.
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