Tuesday 19th February - India a la Francaise

Our night in 2AC is not as restful as the coupes have been but we get a reasonable amount of sleep. The train gets into Puducherry station at 07.25, only ten minutes late. Even at this hour the heat and humidity is quite striking. Puducherry ( formerly and better known as Pondicherry) is a town and stretch of surrounding countryside that belonged to France until 1954 and the French influence is still very apparent. It does not form part of the surrounding Tamil Nadu state, instead being a Union Territory, controlled from Delhi, but with a degree of self government. There are three other small ex French enclaves that also form part of the territory, two on the east coast and one on the west coast.

Pondicherry auto bandits make their Chennai cousins look like rank amateurs when it comes to gouging the travelling public. The best price we can get is 200 for a ride of about half a mile. If we had not had luggage we would have walked. Our hotel, the Bull, only opened last year and is apparently unknown to auto drivers. It does not help that the address on their website appears to have the wrong street number. Fortunately R spots it further down and on the other side of the street. 

The Bull describes itself as a Boutique Hotel and has been set up by a chef with a serious track record. We are asked to pay an early arrival supplement but that includes today's breakfast so we go for it. Our room is light and airy with a nicely fitted bathroom. The bed feels very comfortable in comparison with a 2AC inside lower. We head down to breakfast where we sit in isolated splendour. We have fruit and toast from the buffet and order omelettes and black tea. The waiter is keen for us to try the South Indian special breakfast. It is a plate with paratha, idli and a kind of soft fluffy dosa served with chutney, Dal and a coconut sauce. The dosa thingy is served in a bowl and the waiter tells us to pour the coconut sauce over it. It is more like pudding than breakfast but very yummy.

After breakfast we shower and catch up on a couple of hours sleep. At around noon we set out to explore. According to the weather app it is not as hot here as Hyderabad or Bangalore but the humidity level makes it much more uncomfortable. The French thing is everywhere. The street name signs, the business hours and the smell of drains. One thing that doesn't sound French is the branch of Higgihbotham's book store that we stumble across. We walk down towards the sea front where there is a comfortable breeze but not much shade. There is a sea front cafe so we dive in for a lime soda. Nearly all of the customers are pink people. The locals are much too savvy to be wandering around in the midday heat.

We look for as much shade as possible on the way back to the hotel and try to spot a laundry. There is one not too far from the Bull and that will do if the hotel does not have a decently priced service. The man at reception promises to send a laundry price list up to our room. Back at the room we peel off our sodden t shirts and discover that the WiFi is not working again. This morning reception sent a youth to show us how to log on three times before admitting that somebody had pulled a wire out of the router. R phones to ask about it and is told someone will be sent. Neither laundry list nor WiFi person arrive over the next hour. Then the WiFi returns to action. A man knocks at the door, and insists on checking R's phone. He announces that he has now fixed the problem. 

We decide that we need to plan our days around avoiding being outdoors when the sun is at its highest. To that end we laze around in the AC until after 4 pm and then set out to deliver the laundry and find a yoga class for R. The latter is achieved at the South India Traditional Arts Centre, where there are also classes in cooking and kolam, the local art of decorating the pavement in front of your door. For a sundowner we head to the sea front and the terrace of the Promenade Hotel, from where we watch the full moon rise. The road along the sea front is closed to traffic and packed with pedestrians, all taking in the breeze.

While we wait for the bill we plan what to do for supper. One highly recommended place we are thinking of trying turns out to close at 7 pm so we won't be going there. Earlier in the day we looked at a menu at the Dupleix Hotel which looked good so we decide on that. We eventually manage to pay and find our way to the Dupleix. We are given a choice of in or out and choose the courtyard. It is not busy and our waiter, a young lady from Manipur state in North East India, wants to practice her English. She works six days per week and gets home for a month in January. The food takes a while to arrive but is good when it comes. Walking back to the hotel we notice that Puducherry seems to be a lot livelier after dark than during the day.