Pondicherry is like a first day cover, launched with much fanfare and forgotten. It is one of those places we always want to go to but somehow give a miss in favour of destinations more famous. Doing so is a mistake, for not only is Pondicherry very beautiful — it is also unlike another place in India.
A former French enclave, it has a living legacy with a large French population in residence. Thankfully the enforced racist hue of the old is gone. In colonial days the place was divided between Ville Blanche an exclusive white town, and Ville Noir the dark quarter for the natives.
The first thing that strikes you is the unique blend of French and Tamil architecture. Pondicherry has, what INTACH describes as talking streets. In places such as the rue Romaine Rolland, French architecture in all its glory is on display. Arched windows, ornate roof work in metal and wood as well as imposing doors ensconced by ancient facades and ageless trees...
The Tamil quarter is a contrast in style, with its own set of buildings from the past, standing as if forgotten by time. One must visit the Vaysial Street for examples of interactive housing that is the trademark of a Tamil layout. A front veranda with a mini orchard and a more intimate veranda inside. The remarkable feature of Tamil buildings is the arched platforms that provide some resting place for passers by and vertical columns done with inlay and art. The wonder in Pondicherry is that both quarters are so distinct and yet a 15-minute walk from each other.
The fun actually starts even before you arrive in town. Stop by at almost any place en route and an alluring beach is at hand. And there are backwaters and coconut groves, occasional fish sellers, sailboats at rest, half-finished sand castles, cascading surfs and a lot more. Surely one of the best rides in India for scenic beauty.
The place to stay is a truly unique heritage hotel, the Duplex, named after the famous General who founded Pondicherry. It is a 200-year-old French colonial building with an incredible 16-foot high door in black shining rosewood. The door opens up into an imposing courtyard and there is a giant tree that provides a green screen over the entire place. There are arched delicate French windows and wooded doors and entire wood ceiling and colonnades of festooned brick that are from the original house where Duplex once lived. But the rooms are designed in an ultra-modern way with glass and steel. German minimalism meets French tradition in this wonderful heritage hotel.
Once you get the hang of the architectural joys you can make way for some natural ones. The first visit is the botanical garden set up by the French East India Company 181 years ago. This place has fallen on somewhat bad times owing to government neglect. Yet it is a green mini paradise for those who like a quiet walk. There is a toy train too which chimes along through the 7,500 sq mt garden but a walk is much more fun. It costs Rs 2 to board but needs 50 passengers to start. But you can pay Rs 100 and be the only passenger if you so wish. The fact that ensconced in this space are over 2,000 trees of 700 different species from all over the world give it a unique living diversity.
Next day we are off to famous Auroville, which is flanked by a beach. This centre of universal brotherhood, started way back in 1968, now has nearly 50,000 people from all over the world. We spend some time looking around the ashram, have a great lunch at a famous bakery and make our way back to the hotel.
The next day one gets up real early for a rare treat. At Auroville we bump into someone who makes catamarans, the famous Tamil fishing boats. The word catamaran apparently comes from the Tamil word kattu, which means to tie, and maram, which means tree wood. You had better be a great swimmer to go on one of these as waves can throw one overboard without warning. These twin-hulled wooden beauties are the best way to do the sea off the coast of Pondicherry. You bob up and down over the waves and the surf, you fish, you relax, you get thrown off. By the time you hit the shore, you are hungry beyond belief. Time to tuck into chef Kumar’s famous offerings at the best French restaurant in Pondicherry back at the hotel. The meal is wholesome imported French duck done crisp and in cranberry sauce with a 1994 light French red wine. Rest of the day you just walk the fabulous Pondicherry waterfront. The waterfront is a contrast, with an imposing statue of the Mahatma. And, a few metres down another one of the imperialist Duplex, and in the middle an architectural wonder — a singlememorial for all those Indians who died for the French empire in the world war. So even on a day off you have some busy evenings in Pondicherry.
Culinary Pondicherry
* The best bar: Without question le Club run by a French national of Indian origin! The expat crowd loves the place with its 600 different drinks in the beverage list inculcating some rare collectors French wine and a lot of old rare whiskey.
* The best stake: Satsang.The best stake house with 25 varities. Must sample medium prime tenderloin with blue cheese, a fillet that will leave you yearning for it once you are back in Delhi and at Rs 200, not too heavy on the pocket either
* Best sit-down dinner: Chef Kumar’s at Duplex; Best French food east of Paris. Try the duck and don’t miss the lobster.
Superb starters, colonial façade, and unlike a French restaurant, first-class service. Meal for two would be Rs 1500.
* For Chettinad food: Ramanpillai’s: Spicy as hell, lots of fresh fish and squid dishes. Meal for two would be Rs 500 approximately.
A former French enclave, it has a living legacy with a large French population in residence. Thankfully the enforced racist hue of the old is gone. In colonial days the place was divided between Ville Blanche an exclusive white town, and Ville Noir the dark quarter for the natives.
The first thing that strikes you is the unique blend of French and Tamil architecture. Pondicherry has, what INTACH describes as talking streets. In places such as the rue Romaine Rolland, French architecture in all its glory is on display. Arched windows, ornate roof work in metal and wood as well as imposing doors ensconced by ancient facades and ageless trees...
The Tamil quarter is a contrast in style, with its own set of buildings from the past, standing as if forgotten by time. One must visit the Vaysial Street for examples of interactive housing that is the trademark of a Tamil layout. A front veranda with a mini orchard and a more intimate veranda inside. The remarkable feature of Tamil buildings is the arched platforms that provide some resting place for passers by and vertical columns done with inlay and art. The wonder in Pondicherry is that both quarters are so distinct and yet a 15-minute walk from each other.
The fun actually starts even before you arrive in town. Stop by at almost any place en route and an alluring beach is at hand. And there are backwaters and coconut groves, occasional fish sellers, sailboats at rest, half-finished sand castles, cascading surfs and a lot more. Surely one of the best rides in India for scenic beauty.
The place to stay is a truly unique heritage hotel, the Duplex, named after the famous General who founded Pondicherry. It is a 200-year-old French colonial building with an incredible 16-foot high door in black shining rosewood. The door opens up into an imposing courtyard and there is a giant tree that provides a green screen over the entire place. There are arched delicate French windows and wooded doors and entire wood ceiling and colonnades of festooned brick that are from the original house where Duplex once lived. But the rooms are designed in an ultra-modern way with glass and steel. German minimalism meets French tradition in this wonderful heritage hotel.
Once you get the hang of the architectural joys you can make way for some natural ones. The first visit is the botanical garden set up by the French East India Company 181 years ago. This place has fallen on somewhat bad times owing to government neglect. Yet it is a green mini paradise for those who like a quiet walk. There is a toy train too which chimes along through the 7,500 sq mt garden but a walk is much more fun. It costs Rs 2 to board but needs 50 passengers to start. But you can pay Rs 100 and be the only passenger if you so wish. The fact that ensconced in this space are over 2,000 trees of 700 different species from all over the world give it a unique living diversity.
Next day we are off to famous Auroville, which is flanked by a beach. This centre of universal brotherhood, started way back in 1968, now has nearly 50,000 people from all over the world. We spend some time looking around the ashram, have a great lunch at a famous bakery and make our way back to the hotel.
The next day one gets up real early for a rare treat. At Auroville we bump into someone who makes catamarans, the famous Tamil fishing boats. The word catamaran apparently comes from the Tamil word kattu, which means to tie, and maram, which means tree wood. You had better be a great swimmer to go on one of these as waves can throw one overboard without warning. These twin-hulled wooden beauties are the best way to do the sea off the coast of Pondicherry. You bob up and down over the waves and the surf, you fish, you relax, you get thrown off. By the time you hit the shore, you are hungry beyond belief. Time to tuck into chef Kumar’s famous offerings at the best French restaurant in Pondicherry back at the hotel. The meal is wholesome imported French duck done crisp and in cranberry sauce with a 1994 light French red wine. Rest of the day you just walk the fabulous Pondicherry waterfront. The waterfront is a contrast, with an imposing statue of the Mahatma. And, a few metres down another one of the imperialist Duplex, and in the middle an architectural wonder — a singlememorial for all those Indians who died for the French empire in the world war. So even on a day off you have some busy evenings in Pondicherry.
Culinary Pondicherry
* The best bar: Without question le Club run by a French national of Indian origin! The expat crowd loves the place with its 600 different drinks in the beverage list inculcating some rare collectors French wine and a lot of old rare whiskey.
* The best stake: Satsang.The best stake house with 25 varities. Must sample medium prime tenderloin with blue cheese, a fillet that will leave you yearning for it once you are back in Delhi and at Rs 200, not too heavy on the pocket either
* Best sit-down dinner: Chef Kumar’s at Duplex; Best French food east of Paris. Try the duck and don’t miss the lobster.
Superb starters, colonial façade, and unlike a French restaurant, first-class service. Meal for two would be Rs 1500.
* For Chettinad food: Ramanpillai’s: Spicy as hell, lots of fresh fish and squid dishes. Meal for two would be Rs 500 approximately.
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