Yellow facades, no traffic, the bell of Notre Dame des Anges. Walk for an hour with a coffee and understand what colonial nostalgia is and isn't.
The French held Pondicherry, on and off, until 1954, and White Town still runs on a grid of yellow-washed houses, bougainvillea and street signs in two languages. Notre Dame des Anges stands on the seafront.
Walk it before eight, while the promenade is still closed to traffic and the light is soft. Across the canal, Tamil Town is older and busier, and the two halves of the city explain one another.
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A four-room villa on Rue Romain Rolland, pool in the courtyard.
