Well, sort off! So, Pondicherry is known as the French Colony of southern India; but how French is it really?… I’d say that’s upto each person and what they discover.
Narrow cobbled streets around the white town area, old colonial houses and the mild heat leave you wondering where you could possibly be, a few streets down towards the sea is an overly crowded sea facing boulevard and a few roads towards the city, I might as well be in Chennai.
The quaintness of this place however, remains within those few streets with several bed and breakfasts and unique cafés.
Time sneaking past silently, chocolate mousse, wood oven pizza, coffee, rough seas beating endlessly against the rocks, apple crumble, more coffee, walking by the waves, steak and mash, hiding from the sun, lemon tarts, quiet gardens….. that best describes my weekend in Pondi.
To clarify, a truly culinary experience where time literally creeps along. I didn't specifically find the food to be French, but the food was always fresh and flavorful; and time, yes it just moved along slowly hoping no one would notice.
Driving in on a Friday afternoon, hotel checkins could wait, our first stop was Le Club to have grilled fish, sea food sizzlers and as much calamari as one can eat. Yes, its imperative that you eat seafood in a village by the sea!
The dessert was a pleasant surprise as this was definitely the best apple crumble I've ever tasted.
A few hours of sitting around and then we drove off toward the highway, turned into the dirt road that lead to Auroville (all this in the dark with no street lights) and found Tanto…. (I got better directions from my sister than google maps and discovered this word of mouth reviewed and highly rated eatery). Lots and lots of Wood oven pizza and finally dark chocolate mousse and espresso's to end the evening.
After waking up to omelets and toast, after a short stroll down the sea facing boulevard Goubert Avenue, after walking through Le Café to stare at the sea brushing up against the rocks, we discovered the quite café at the Promenande where we drank several cups of coffee and whiled away time. It was pleasant and an afternoon I didn't want to end, except.........
..............Rendezvous was calling with Chicken à la kiev and lots more apple pie and chocolate mousse.
By now my time in Pondi was running out so it turned out I needed two desserts to ensure I didn't miss out.
A farewell snack at the farmers café, sitting literally in a vegetable patch eating Lemon tarts and drinking fresh lemon juice as we headed out of Pondi.
It’s a good thing I love my food; the next time I plan an eating out weekend this will be top of my destination list.
I discovered my love for blogging just before my Turkish assignment last year. It's true I've always loved to write lists, scribble my thoughts downs, make those elaborate To-Do's.... Writing helps me arrange the thoughts in my mind and get things into perspective; writing helps me stay calm and focus on what the actual situation is. I'm sure other people go through this as well, when you're faced with emotional ups and downs, one thought leads to another and it can easily spiral out of control. Writing helps me focus on that one thought and deal with it, writing helps me put control points on my crazy traumatic thoughts so I can spend time on them and move on. So what happens when I travel and then write a blog... its brings back happy memories of my time in wanderland, helps me focus on where I want to do wander off next and fills me with lots of hope.
