Pondicherry, India

From Chennai, we drove south to Pondicherry.  Pondicherry was a French colony until 1956 -- a full nine years after the British  left India and she gained her independence.  After the French left Pondicherry and three other areas it had occupied, they became part of India, as special districts rather than states.  The French influence is still strong in the area with many French citizens with Indian heritage, a French Quarter, French architecture, and some French food.  The French Quarter is very pretty and organized compared to the Tamil section of the city.  Generally speaking, India is very dirty with trash strewn all over.  Littering is common and most people never seem to notice the filth surrounding them. 


Our hotel in Pondicherry was previously a governor's mansion from the French period -- very unique and fun.  While in Pondicherry, we visited a temple dedicated to the god Ganesh, the god with an elephant's head and a human body.  We also went to the local market with all kinds of things for sale -- except meat.  Most Indians are vegetarians.  And we toured a spiritual community, called an ashram, established by Sri Aurobindo in 1926, including schools, paper manufacturing, guest houses, etc.  We even saw a couple of Catholic cathedrals (France is very Catholic).

In the evening we took a stroll on the Promenade along the sea shore.  There were a lot of people out enjoying the night air.  The temperature here is around 80 degrees in the daytime and the low 70s at night.  That's my kind of winter.  While walking on the Promenade, the people were very friendly, and when we were looking at a large statue of Mahatma Gandhi, some Indian young men asked if we knew who he was, and were quite surprised that we knew so much about him.  I think Sue and I were the only Americans out that night.  In fact, we have only met a few Americans this whole trip, and that was in the hotels.  I'd say we are off the beaten path as far as American tourism goes.  But, oh what fun!!!

For those of you who have seen The Life of Pi, many of the early scenes in the movie
were filmed in Pondicherry.