What a contrasting day this has been to previous days! After an intensely-busy and emotionally-daring nine days at Karigiri, this was designed to be a relaxing break in a unique mini-state of India, a little bit of colonial France in the tropics.
We arrived here last night, tired from our long journey by rail /road. The "Bonjour Bonheur Ocean Spray" Hotel is situated along the East Coast Road,,some 12 kilometres north of Pondicherry. The road journey from Villupuram took an age, and I was aware of "the Girls" thinking "Are we nearly there yet?". But as soon as we turned into the hotel entrance, it shone an opulent welcome, and I was able to relax, knowing that this had been the very best choice.
Back to today. Having got into breakfast, we were suddenly invaded by a large group of men on pilgrimage, who stood by the sumptuous breakfast buffet. They devoured most things within ten minutes, like a plague of locusts. We got the feeling that it might have been a gift to them from the hotel. Just as soon as they arrived, so they left.
We left an hour later, and headed for The Promenade,, and the highly-interesting "French" or "white"town, so called because of the colour of the buildings rather than of the people. We went to the Sacred Heart Church, Catholicism with an Indian flavour. We were too late for Mass - it began at 6am! We walked through the Botanical Gardens, made famous by the film "The Life of Pi", but, I hasten to add, unlike the story, in really life there is no Zoo. The trip out was completed by our driver taking us to a beach-side cafe selling cold or hot drinks, ice creams, and various French bread and pastry treats. On our return to the hotel, our driver and vehicle were pulled-over by the police. Looking inside the vehicle, it took them no time to work out that' we were NOT trying to smuggle alcoholic beverage into Tamil Nadu.
Temperatures around 35 Celsius were more than adequate, and some of us were driven into the pool to cool down. Another full day tomorrow, to sample some of the other spirituality of Pondicerry.
We arrived here last night, tired from our long journey by rail /road. The "Bonjour Bonheur Ocean Spray" Hotel is situated along the East Coast Road,,some 12 kilometres north of Pondicherry. The road journey from Villupuram took an age, and I was aware of "the Girls" thinking "Are we nearly there yet?". But as soon as we turned into the hotel entrance, it shone an opulent welcome, and I was able to relax, knowing that this had been the very best choice.
Back to today. Having got into breakfast, we were suddenly invaded by a large group of men on pilgrimage, who stood by the sumptuous breakfast buffet. They devoured most things within ten minutes, like a plague of locusts. We got the feeling that it might have been a gift to them from the hotel. Just as soon as they arrived, so they left.
We left an hour later, and headed for The Promenade,, and the highly-interesting "French" or "white"town, so called because of the colour of the buildings rather than of the people. We went to the Sacred Heart Church, Catholicism with an Indian flavour. We were too late for Mass - it began at 6am! We walked through the Botanical Gardens, made famous by the film "The Life of Pi", but, I hasten to add, unlike the story, in really life there is no Zoo. The trip out was completed by our driver taking us to a beach-side cafe selling cold or hot drinks, ice creams, and various French bread and pastry treats. On our return to the hotel, our driver and vehicle were pulled-over by the police. Looking inside the vehicle, it took them no time to work out that' we were NOT trying to smuggle alcoholic beverage into Tamil Nadu.
Temperatures around 35 Celsius were more than adequate, and some of us were driven into the pool to cool down. Another full day tomorrow, to sample some of the other spirituality of Pondicerry.
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