Visited pondicherry in end july. Not the best time to visit - it was very hot.... but the two days passed away just too quickly ... and most of it was a journey of discovery ... too many details can be given and yet words would fail to capture that feeling of having discovered something. I think i’d just give the places /things that u must not miss for the world if by any chance u land up there:
Have a wood fired pizza at ’Au Feu de Bois’ (the French owner claims its the only one in India) - very good.
Have dessert at ’salon dupleix’ at hotel de’ pondicheri. - Superb creme caramel! And the place is a colonial french mansion... well worth a look.
visit the matri mandir in auroville - its sth like whats seen in sci fi movies ... only tragedy is that they let u be there for just abt a min - I went twice :))
Lovely stained glass paintings at ’sacred heart’ church. And murals depicting the life of jesus at ’agnes de notre dame’ church.
We missed the french consulate / library coz it was closed ... but looked promising from outside.
Shop at the ’mira’ boutique at auroville / at splendour on goubert avenue (on the seaface - where we stayed). others are overpriced ...
Give a complete miss to – the museum, vinayaka temple (sights), park guest house/ any other commercial hotel (stay), madame santhe’s (French food).
And ofcourse - make sure u have as many bacardi breezers (recommended flavor: cranberry) and vodka shotz (peach!) as u can ...
we did visit some 3 other restaurants (la terasse – pizza/ vietnamese chaio rolls) and a few other places for shopping and roaming arnd ... but these are the best ... and quite unlike any other place in india ... but even then, the french flavor of pondy is rather subtle - we had the ‘lonely planet’ to guide us ... but most ppl just miss it - go there, get drunk and come back ... which is sad. the place has quite a bit to offer if u are willing to explore ...