Mamalapouram

Mamalapouram is a very touristy little town renown for its sculptors and with a lot of temples sculpted directly in the rock between the VIth and VIIIth century

in a nice park with goats and monkeys.

That is where my trip ended!

Drawings on the floor

Every morning women draw ritual designs on the floor to protect the house

They are extremely beautiful

And they got even more beautiful on New Year's day

Bonding through pictures

Kanchana, my mom's maid ask me to take pictures of her which I did and then gave them to her

The same for our neighbors Satia, Sardi, Anishia and Arish. They were so happy when Maria and I gave them the pictures we had taken of them...

...that Sardi offered to dress me in a Sari, that was fun!

And then we took more pictures

Rickshaw-show

The Rickshaw is what we used to go to Pondicherry

traffic is pretty amazing in India!

Is that paradise?

The village's beach

The very private beach and guesthouse for aurovillians: repos beach

looks like club med doesn't it?

Tsunami commemoration

The 2004 tsunami reached the Southern costs of India and the village Maria lives in. On the 26th of December a commemoration of the event was organized in
the village.





First a big poster was put on Main Road that leads to Pondicherry and candles and incense were light in a table in front of it








Then we all walked with a candle light towards the beach







and we put our candles there facing the sea so it would always be that quiet. I was very honored to take part in such a commemoration.

Christmas in Pondicherry

Christmas in India is really more about Jesus than Santa. The Christian community puts stars outside their homes, make nativity Crèches and go to church on the 24th for the midnight mass

As for us we had a wonderful dinner at the new bar restaurant lounge that opened in Pondi, the Poudou Poudou. Maria me and 4 other friends enjoyed a cocktail and great French food.

The place is pretty amazing. You should check it out if you go to Pondi.

Pondicherry's beach

Pondicherry also has a beach and a very nice beach promenade. We went there on the 21th of December and it is deserted because it was being evacuated for the safety of the President of India who was in the town that day

The monument in honor of Ghandi placed in the middle of way older colomns

But we went there again on the 29th as the sun was going down. People gathered there to enjoy the beautiful light and the fresh air

Pondicherry and it's French Colonial Past

An other part of the town called "white city" was built under French colonization that lasted from the 18th century until the mid 1950s with moments of English or Dutch domination. Big houses, quiet streets with a lot of trees and flowers. And buildings of the French administration.

This is the inside of the French high school : it would be nice to be teaching there wouldn't it?

And of course churches!

Shopping in Pondicherry

The next day shopping in what is commonly called the "black" part of the city. Shops, cloths, food, flowers and a lot of posters...

The first impression

My flight arrived in Madras the 20th of December around 3 am. Maria was waiting for me with a cab and we drove in the dark and rainy night to reach Pondicherry. It took us 3 hours. We stopped to have a quick tea in a little open shop, my first "chai " experience. Maria's house is outside the city, in a fishermen's village along what is called "serenity Beach". My first vision of the beach in the dim light of early morning made me think it deserved it's name.