Pondicherry : Indo-French Getaway

Pondicherry is a French colonized town located on the East coast. The town was the French settlement for more than 350 years and the breeze of the French history is still felt in the streets of Pondicherry. The colonial architecture with tall Yellow painted buildings & beautiful streets will pose for good pictures of your camera.

It was a perfect 2 days trip planned really well. Thanks to Muddie trails for crafting the itinerary for people like us who would like to explore this place over a weekend.

Day 1 – March 23^rd 2019 - (Saturday):

We reached Pondy early in the morning at around 6 am and check into the home-stay La Villa Guest House situated in Auroville.

We quickly freshened up and had a nice & fulfilling breakfast. Then we all set off to explore French colony. Our vehicle stopped near Gandhi Statue, Rock beach and from there we set off to explore French colony by foot. The moment we got down, I could not believe for a second that I am in Pondy. I felt as if I am along Miami Beach side. It was so clean, calm and the cool breeze walking along this beach really boosted up our vacation spirit.

You can see some nice paintings/art work on the wall alongside while you walk. So don’t miss to click them. 

We next took a right and entered one lane of French colony. Now you will start seeing the traditional yellow two story houses which will take you back to the colonial era. You will find many French people moving around in two wheelers. The colony has very old houses, yet the way they are maintained and built so well that it stands out in beauty. You cannot help but stop and click pictures at every angle, and those are the memories that make this place very special. A well maintained and neatly kept colony by French people.

We next had lunch at a restaurant in French Colony only.

Post lunch, our next stop was Aurobindo Ashram. Here we were asked to leave our footwear outside and switch off the phones. There is no entry fee and it is in the same locality. So since you are passing by the French colony you can plan this visit as well. This is a very serene place and good for meditation. If you require most relaxed spiritual experience, this place is a must visit.

Now it was time to visit the Pondicherry light house. So we bid adieu to French colony and drove to light house. But after reaching there, we realized in the evening it is open to visitors from 3 PM. So instead of wasting time, we then drove to Auroville beach.

This beach was little calm and peaceful with very less visitors. And it was very clean too. But since we had decided to play in the beach only at the end of our day, we just took a stroll along the beach side and drove back to the lighthouse. 

Lighthouse was open to tourists and we could see line up of visitors. There are some steps which will take you to the top and you can get a view of beach which is breathtaking.  

We clicked some pictures here and finally it was play time in beach. So we headed to our last stop - Serenity beach. 

We had great fun there and then reached back our homestay. We freshened up, had dinner at a restaurant near our homestay and finally hit the bed with great memories of the day.

Day 2 – March 24^th 2019 (Sunday):

We set off to Auroville Ashram post breakfast. At the reception we were asked to proceed to a room to watch a video about Auroville. And yes this was really informative.

We took our entry passes and at the reception area there is an information center.  This is also helpful if you want to know more about Auroville. As you start walking out of this info center, you will be invited by a food court where in you can refresh yourself with food/cool drinks/lip smacking ice creams. Because once you cross this food court and start walking towards the Matri Mandir, you will not find any place with refreshments.

From food court, walk towards Matri Mandir is around 4-5 kilometers which is very peaceful through dense vegetation. 

It is a long walk depending on your pace. So please ensure that you carry caps/umbrellas and water with you.

We finally reach the Matri Mandir where is a golden globe like structure. It is a meditation center where booking needs to be done in advance. We clicked some pictures from outside and walked back to parking lot.

We had lunch at a restaurant in Auroville.

Post lunch we set off to Paradise beach - Last stop of our trip. We walked along the beach side and savored some nice sea food in the shacks.

We then came back to Pondy town for shopping. Didn’t find anything interesting to take back home. So we walked around to find a good place for dinner. Finally ended up eating masala dosa and headed back to our bus.  

Finally we set off to Bangalore bidding Au Revoir(good bye) to Pondicherry. 

 
Pondicherry - An Indo French Getaway - Part 2