Oh la la, Pondicherry!

Nostalgic of our travel to the Far East and yearning for a culinary change from spice and coriander, we jetted to the coast for a brief weekend in Pondicherry. Although it's name has officially reverted back to Puducherry (meaning new village in Tamil), many still call it by its old name. One of two Union Territories in India (Delhi being the other) Pondicherry enjoys status similar to a state allowing it to pass its own legislation such as legal consumption of alcohol. Our state of Tamil Nadu is dry, depriving us of a cold beer with a red hot curry. Pondicherry is best known for its French culture; this territory was ruled by the French for almost 300 years. For that colonial period, Pondi served as the capital for all of French India. Although not as expansive as the British holdings here, the French were able to focus their attention and design a picturesque and well organized city. The cobblestone streets and pastel colored homes speak more of Nice or Cannes than Vellore. And the food? Well, no self-respecting Frenchman would come here without their baguettes and cheese. Fortunately, their culinary knowledge persists and great food can be found throughout the town. Enjoy.

Orientation.

Historic Map of Pondicherry.
The only city we have visited in India with a regular grid of streets.
What a relief!!!

Jeeyung enjoying a stroll on the paved brick streets.
What's missing in this picture?
Throngs of honking rickshaws and buses clogging up the road.

Local residence with French style street sign.

Bougainvillea.

Entry to l'Ecole Francaise d'Extreme Orient.

Court of l'Ecole Francaise d'Extreme Orient.

Pondicherry Maternity Hospital.

We stayed at the Hotel Dupleix. Named after the French Governor of the territory, this hotel was designed by a French architect taking over 4 years to renovate. A blend of historic and modern,
all of the old details were carefully constructed in the colonial
style including the use of crushed eggshells for the interior plaster finish.

View of porch outside one of the rooms at the Hotel Dupleix.

View from the lounge at the stair landing.

Ashram students taking a break from their studies. The Sri Aurobindo ashram is located in the heart of Pondicherry and owns a large majorities of the buildings in town. All of the their structures are easily identifiable: painted gray with white trim. At first this can seem rather oppressive, but it actually brings a level of visual continuity to the town that is rarely found in the haphazard chaotic urban spaces throughout India.
Although smaller, the Pondicherry Museum bears great resemblances to its older sibling in Kolkata (see earlier blog Black Hole of Calcutta Redux).

I was not allowed another morsel of French bread until I memorized correctly all of the beach sands of Pondicherry. Unfortunately, I kept getting them wrong because the vials were so dusty.

Assortment of Auroville Cheeses (Emmenthal, Mozzarella, and Cheddar),
French bread, and organic red and white rice.
Jeeyung had a fresh vegetable sampler with a carrot mousse and mushroom ravioli. This presentation may not impress you, but see below for what we have typically eaten for the past 5 months.

Tiffin meal on a banana leaf. This is our typical fair in Vellore and is a mixture of rice, dal(lentils) and vegetarian curries. To find out more about the fascinating tiffin delivery system in Mumbai please click this link.

Pondicherry also boasts some sick 80's mixes. At different hotels, we kept hearing the same mixes over and over. Can you guess who is who in the following pictures? Band: Toto. Song played: Africa.

Artist: Chris de Burgh. Song played: Lady in Red.

Artist: Richard Marx. Song played: Right Here Waiting.

Pondicherry also has its fair share of celebrity look-alikes. If you weren't able to guess the above artists, perhaps you know who this man resembles?



We visited the ashram of Auroville, 20 minutes outside of Pondicherry. It is an experiment to 'realize humanity in diversity'. The commune holds approximately 2000 long term believers, many of which are non-Indian. During our visit, we saw a lot of Europeans with pony tails toting their barefoot children on the backs of mopeds. This place belongs to another era. Jeeyung felt so peaceful there that she wanted us to stay for the rest of our lives, but I told her that there was no way I could meditate inside that damn golf ball.

Although Auroville is well known for its experimental architecture and sustainable living strategies, we particularly appreciated their fine cheeses. We stocked up on the way home with parmesan, goat, and yak cheese. Yes, the yak attack is back by way of Nepal. This is one of the stinkiest cheeses I have ever consumed (second only to a French epoisse). You almost have to eat it with gloves as the yak odour stays on your hands for half of day. The yak has been officially banned from our household.