The magnificently-moustachioed policeman politely doffed his kepi as I passed by, just as any of his colleagues might do in a similar French town. In the midday heat I pottered languidly alongside the brightly-coloured bougainvillea on Rue Romain Rolland and the church of Notre Dame des Anges, with the statue of Joan of Arc in the square at the side. All in all, it was rather bizarre to think I was actually in India.
Pi Patel (Suraj Sharma) began his adventure in Pondicherry before battling the forces of nature at sea in Ang Lee's Life of Pi
Until 1954, Pondicherry, which is a two and a half hour drive south of Chennai (formerly Madras), was a French colony. Many people just call it Pondy. As well as being a pleasant coastal town to visit in its own right, it received a celebrity boost as the setting for Yann Martel’s novel The Life of Pi. When that was made into a film last year director Ang Lee shot many of the opening sequences here too.
Tranquil: The city's French quarter is the place to head for a laid-back feel
Meandering round, it’s not difficult to spot the locations that he chose, even if the lick of Hollywood paint they were given has somewhat faded in the monsoon rains that drift in from the Bay of Bengal.
Pondicherry is a town of two halves, bisected by a canal. (Don’t get excited – it’s not Venice). To one side is the quiet French Quarter bordered by a promenade and beach with calm streets announced by their Parisian-style blue plaques, boutique villa hotels and chichi shops selling statues of the Hindu deity Ganesh, locally-made handbags and pashminas.
Soaring: The Sacred Heart of Jesus Basilica in Pondicherry
On the other is the raucous, horn-honking Tamil area with goats in the street, Royal Enfield motorbikes, women in multi-coloured saris, and large posters for “Kollywood” movies, as the local made-in-Kodambakkam films are called – all in all, noisily, head-poundingly, fantastically fun and full of life. And unlike on a previous trip to Delhi, which I just remember for the constant hassle, it was great fun to wander here. Zero aggravation, lots of smiles and plenty of photo opportunities.
It is this rather schizophrenic nature that gives Pondicherry its charm, almost like being able to turn the volume up and down at will. Want to rev things up a bit? Go to the Tamil area. Fancy something a bit more tranquil? Then allez au quartier français or find cool sanctuary in one of the imposing Catholic churches, such as the Sacred Heart of Jesus Basilica, some of which date back to the 17th century.
Opting for a bit of the former on my first morning in town, I headed to the Grand Bazaar, at the corner of Mahatma Gandhi Road and Nehru Street. In Life of Pi it is where our hero coyly chases after his first love. On my visit its narrow lanes were busy with a small army of men sitting at their stalls threading flowers together that are used for weddings and offerings at local temples.
Sign of the times: A poster in the city's botanic gardens
There were also huge tubs of white Jasmine buds, which local women weave into their hair, something you see everywhere around town. Fruit and vegetables too, as well as betel leaves for chewing and a fish market that promptly turned me vegetarian for the rest of the week. In fact lunch just nearby was at an unpretentious no-name restaurant where rice, vegetables and chapatti served on a banana leaf came to £1.75, and where the waiters showed me how to mix different sauces with the rice and roll the result into a ball.
For an afternoon constitutional afterwards I strolled through the Botanical Gardens, which doubled as Pi’s family’s zoo, with my guide Mr Dharmalingam. The garden has a fun miniature train called the Bee Gee Express, but apart from that, it’s seen better days and if you want some greenery a better bet is Bharathi Park in the French Quarter, which seemed to have a much more lively air about it.
In order to carry on down the Pi trail, around seven miles away by black and yellow, three-wheeled auto rickshaw, is the impressive Hindu temple at Villianur, which served as the backdrop for the night time tank ceremony scene, lit by hundreds of candles.
Sleepy: Two women walk through the shade cast by the trees in Bharathi Park
Even on my daytime visit, the interior of the temple, with atmospheric shadows thrown onto dingy, ancient walls by small pots of burning oil, is striking for its antique carvings. I hope I don’t upset anyone’s religious sensibilities by saying it seemed to have a real Indiana Jones feel about it. I really shouldn’t mix my films, I know.
When the sun goes down and the heat dissipates it’s a good idea to search out the old villas in the French Quarter that have been turned into courtyard restaurants. At La Maison Rose on Rue Romain Rolland I dined on summer rolls with sweet chilly sauce under a mango tree that had been draped with fairy lights and drank Indian white wine at a tourist-targeted £21 a bottle. Another evening, at Villa Shanti, under gently whirling fans, I tucked into courgette and walnut crepes.
If you want to contemplate your spiritual side, Pondicherry hosts an annual yoga festival each January, but even at other times of year you can easily turn on, tune in and drop out. On Rue St Gilles, the Sri Aurobindo Ashram is a peaceful oasis where you can sit and meditate, and just down the road there’s the beach on which to stroll.
Spriitual: The Matrimandir golden orb at the centre of Auroville
Several miles north of town is Auroville, a community that was started in 1968 as an experimental township by “The Mother” (a French woman called Mirra Alfassa, who first came to the area in 1914) in order to “realise human unity”. If you want to meditate inside its huge golden orb, known as the Matrimandir, then register a few days in advance, otherwise you can just turn up to find out more at the visitors’ centre.
Personally, after watching the introductory film and wandering round, I felt there was something a bit odd with it’s “hey man do what you want - as long as it’s what we tell you” ethos, and edicts such as “to live in Auroville, one must be a willing servitor of the Divine Consciousness.”
More...
Bienvenue à Pondicherry, the Indian town where you'll find plenty of joie de vivre
India's scented city: Jasmine perfumed Chennai is full of exotic flavour
More travel treats in our India story archive
Perhaps I just needed to chill out so I plumped for postcard writing with a frosty Kingfisher beer back in the French Quarter. If you come to Pondicherry expecting a thickly-cut slice of Provence on the Subcontinent, you may well leave disappointed. But if you just want to combine genuine Tamil hospitality with a whiff of Pastis and the half-imagined click of boules from times gone by, then you will find Pondy right up your rue.
Life Of Pi is available on 3D Blu-ray, Blu-ray and DVD from tomorrow.
Travel FactsTransIndus (020 8566 3739, www.transindus.com) offers a six-night tailor-made trip with two nights in Chennai and four in Pondicherry from £1,448 per person including B&B accommodation, some guided sightseeing and return flights from Heathrow to Chennai (via Delhi) with Air India. For further information visit www.tourism.puducherry.gov.in and www.incredibleindia.org.