I travelled to Chennai and was very excited about the week ahead. The plan was to travel alone and meet up with friends and acquaintances in Pondicherry. When all the friends backed out of the plan, thankfully it didn’t change my mind. I guess the company wasn't as important :P !
The hotel had arranged an airport pick up for me beforehand. Although the driver was instructed to ferry me directly to Pondicherry, my mind was wandering as to where I could stop on the way. Mahabalipuram was high on the priority list as my colleague who is an architect told me that it was a must visit. I wished to reach Mahabalipuram through the East Coast road as the drive offers breathtaking views of the Indian Ocean.
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| Shore Temple, Mahabalipuram |
After some research before
touring out, I figured that Mahabalipuram was actually a 7th century port city of
the Pallavas which is now flooded with tourists. The monuments are mostly
rock-cut and monolithic, and constitute the early stages of Dravidian
architecture with some Buddhist elements of design. I got the opportunity of
seeing a few important structures like Thirukadamallai, Varaha cave temple,
Shore temple and the Pancha Rathas. Another two hour drive from Mahabalipuram
and I was at my destination - my hotel -
La Maison Tamoule in the Tamil quarters
of Pondicherry. The hotel is a restored property that is situated on the Vysial
Street; the street that was awarded the best restored street by
INTACH. One can
so imagine how beautifully this would have been restored. One must view
‘before-after’ photographs of the property to get a fair idea about the amount
of time and resources that would have been spent on the restoration.
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| Pondicherry Gate |
Once I reached
La Maison Tamoule,
though I was starved, the first thing I wanted to do was to have an elaborate
tour of the property. This was my first time in Pondicherry and having heard of
the restored streets; Tamil and French quarters of the city, I wanted to
explore it all. As a first step, I was quickly escorted to the room that I had
booked. As interesting as the other concepts of the brand- Neemrana like no
televisions, beautifully restored buildings; in this property the rooms are
named after Navaratna stones. Mine was called ‘Ruby’ and was located on the
first floor. The
non-hotel Hotel had polished
red Attangadi tiled flooring, colourful stained glass arches and stunning teak
furniture as well.
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| La Maison Tamoule |
The room’s balcony had a view of
an art gallery that was directly opposite to the heritage hotel. As I was new
to the city and it was my first time here, I took help of a non-human this
time- a guide and map (
ActuPondy & Define) of the city. Both of these have popular
restaurants, hotels and places to see that are marked clearly and help one
choose where to go. Since I am a foodie and love to experiment with the kind of
food I eat, I wanted to visit restaurants that served authentic French food.
After all, the taste of great food is something you can’t ever forget. At least
I can’t !
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| Ruby |
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Satsanga was my first pick; a
French-Mediterranean restaurant on Rue Labourdonnais street, a cute garden
restaurant in the White Town. They served excellent Steak au Poivre! To keep myself awake after all the tiredness,
I desperately needed a cup of hot coffee and so Coffee(dot)com on Rue Romain
Rolland was where I chose to relax. A quaint
and beautifully designed coffee shop with internet located on Rue Romain
Rolland allowed me to connect with friends in Delhi! I also visited Le Club for
dinner as it is an extremely popular French restaurant, the very same day. My
schedule for the day also included a visit to the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, a very
well known place in Pondicherry. A very well-planned city with Indian and
French buildings was a treat to the eyes, especially when most of the
city was explored by me on foot ! The city being relatively smaller in terms of
area didn’t require me to hire a vehicle to reach a destination.
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| Satsanga |
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| The Bar at Le Club |
In sync with the old world charm
of the place, Rue Romain Rolland has a couple of boutiques and shops selling
antique furniture lined up. The city helps one relax and rejuvenate with peace
all around. In case, one wants to do something exciting after a few hours of
relaxation, Temple Adventures provides scuba-diving and surfing lessons!
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| Yellow auto-rickshaws of Pondicherry |
Having done enough for the day, I
returned to my hotel. A few hours of sleep was what I needed, only so that I
could be fresh for the next day, my last day in Pondy. An elaborate breakfast at the
restaurant at my hotel was how the second day started. Neemrana prepares jams
of various kinds in-house at their hotel in
Ramgarh. These are then served at
all their properties across India.
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| Breakfast at La Maison Tanmoule |
In Pondicherry, how could one
miss seafood. I stopped by at
Café Rendezvous for lunch to eat Malabar fish
curry after which I headed out to Auroville (finally!) with a friend.
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| Miniature of Matri Mandir |
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| The shaded path to Matri Mandir |
Auroville is an experimental
township founded by the Shri Aurobindo Society and Mirra Alfassa also known as
“The Mother” in 1968. The Mother believed that this township would contribute
significantly to the progress of humanity towards its splendid future by bringing
together people of goodwill and aspiration for a better world. At the entrance
of Auroville, there is a visitors centre where the visitors are asked to watch a
short video about the Township, The Mother and the philosophy behind the entire
concept. This is a great idea as it
retains the meaning of a historical monument like this one and also helps one
connect with the historical aspect of it.
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| Matri Mandir |
Once permitted into the premises,
one can view Matri Mandir from a distance. In order to maintain the sanctity of
the place, only those who fill up a request form two days in advance are
allowed entry into the interiors of the meditation centre. After grabbing an energy drink, I
returned to the boutiques of
Auroville that are known for
incense sticks, cottonclothing (which are extremely comfortable), herbal syrups and pottery. I bought
them all! The atmosphere of Auroville was so unbelievably calm and serene that
it made me in total awe of the place. I then decided to bid adieu to my
newly found peaceful haven and go back to Pondicherry.
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| Hotel de l'Orient |
I planned dinner at the famous
Carte Blanche restaurant of
Hotel de l’Orient for the night with a colleague
who heads the South-Indian market for
Neemrana Hotels. Carte Blanche is an open
air courtyard restaurant which is known for its Creole Cuisine. The Maitre d’ suggested us to order the Patchayi
Erral Curry (Prawns curried in Mint and Coriander Sauce) and an Earl Grey Crème
brûlée (I live for good Crème Brûlée) We
did exactly that. The food and ambience were both excellent and nothing could
have been a more perfect ending to my visit to Pondicherry. A return to my hotel in a rickshaw with the
cool breeze surrounded by amazing sights just got me elated. I was now looking
forward to my stay in Tranquebar the following day.
