Pondicherry

In Pondicherry it really is possible to forget that you are in India. As you walk down the tree-lined streets of the old French quarter you feel more like you are in France than India. Pondicherry is located on the south eastern coast of India about 3 hours south of Chennai (formerly Madras). It is divided into two parts, each with a rather un-PC name: "Ville Blanche" (French quarter) and "Ville Noire" (Indian quarter). At one of the temples in the Indian quarter, the resident elephant gives blessings in exchange for a rupee.

Pondicherry is the capital of the Union Territory of Puducherry that was formed in 1962 out of the four former colonies of French India (three are on the east coast and one is on the west coast). It still has a number of Tamil residents with French passports, whose ancestors were in the French Governmental service and who chose to remain French at the time of Independence.

For a bit of relaxation we opted to stay outside of Pondicherry at the beach front Dune Hotel. The architecture and interior design of each of the rooms/villas is unique and ours was called the "Silver Room".

During our stay we also visited the experimental town of Auroville. Founded in the late 1960s by a spiritual leader known as "The Mother", Auroville was meant to "be a universal town where men and women of all countries are able to live in peace and progressive harmony above all creeds, all politics and all nationalities". Although originally intended for 50,000 inhabitants, it is now home to about 2,000 people from 44 nationalities. Here is an interesting article if you want to read more about Auroville. The golden sci-fi  building in the last image is the "Matrimandar" (or the "Mother Temple") in Auroville.