Pondicherry

Remember the part of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory when the grandpa is telling the story of Prince Pondicherry and his doomed chocolate palace? Well, I've been excited to go to the real Pondicherry ever since I saw that scene.

Unfortunately, there are no palaces chocolate or otherwise in Pondy. There is, however, about four blocks close to the ocean that is very reminiscent of southern France. Some streets are cobbled, there's a big park full of flowers (and I'm sure the odd cow). Houses are immaculately painted and there are uniformed gendarmeries walking in the streets. I saw the first street signs since I came to India here, streets like Rue de la Compangie and Rue de la casterne. Of course street names quickly change to things like Mahatma Gandi Road and Nehru Street as you leave the waterfront. It was strangely comforting to read the french signs aloud, fine-tuning my accent.

Pondy's beach is similar to the one at Tranquebar, windy and dangerous but more touristy. Small kids who should be in school follow you around trying to sell you little handmade pouches. It's a bit of a moral dilemma. You want to help them out by buying one or ten but at the same time, you don't want to encourage other parents to pull their kids out of school to sell things to tourists. They are cute, and persistent. One kid almost following us into a cafe despite us saying repeatedly 'don't want' in Tamil.

Along the beach are cute little cafes. There were no Indians eating in the cafe we went to, only foreigners- mostly French. It a really weird feeling to actually blend in for once; I'm so used to being the only foreigner and often the only girl in restaurants and shops!

In the French quarter are lots of high end shops and hotels but as you travel away from the waterfront you're back in India in the blink of an eye. It gets louder, more crowded and all the French completely disappears from signs. Another interesting interaction of east and west.

Unfortunately, by this point in the trip I was really sick of carrying my camera around, and hauling it out every few seconds so I kind of went on strike. These are the only two pictures I took in Pondicherry but hopefully they show the European feel of the place.