India Feb/March 2024


 

Bonjour ladies, I hope you are well. As promised, here is my full India itinerary. I kind of free-styled this trip and so glad I did because it allowed me to be super flexible with the schedule. 

Flight: I used Qatar Airways - I flew in it last year and I feel like it's worth every dollars spent on a business class ticket as the service is excellent, the seats are so comfortable,  the lounge once you arrive in Doha is one of the best lounge I have experienced so yes, highly recommend it for a long flight.

So I started my journey in Mumbai, my family from France was also in town so spent some time with them, I stayed in my old apartment as I used to live in Mumbai back in 2010. I will go more in detail about  Mumbai later.















I then flew to Chennai to head to Pondicherry/Auroville. I go for my spiritual wellness but this was the first time I went alone so the experience was quite different. I arrived in Auroville, stayed at my friend Fabien's house who has a place in Auroville itself before moving to hotels which I will mention below. I met so many amazing souls, it was incredible, this was the first step where I broke my fear of traveling alone and not knowing anyone. I think that's exactly the beauty of being a wanderer. I then spend couple of day in Pondicherry for the same purpose of spiritual wellness.

Hotels I stayed:

Dune Eco Village & Spa (I highly recommend it, if you want to be truly disconnected from everything and want to focus on yourself, this is the place to be) They also offer Ayurvedic treatments after a quick diagnose and curate the perfect agenda according to your needs.

-Palais de Mahe a beautiful place in the heart of the French quarter in Pondicherry. 

Excursion I did: 

Thillai Nataraja Temple, located one hour away from Pondicherry, very stunning temple with lots of information if you want to learn more.

Pichavaram mangrove forest, you can do it right after visiting the Thillai temple, this is the second largest mangrove.

Auroville / Mantrimandir , this is a bit more specific, but if you have any interest in spirituality/meditation, this could be a sweet spot to start.

Walk on "The promenade beach".

I personally don't really do many excursion as my main purpose is to meditate, read, walk on the beach, meet people with similar energy and purpose.

Restaurants:

Bread and Chocolate, I could eat here every single day, the food is fresh, healthy and delicious (both locations (Pondicherry and Auroville are amazing).

ANTHÉ Restaurant located in Pondicherry.

Villa Shanti Restaurant. 

Surguru  for delicious local food.

Nowana for Korean food located in Auroville.

Tanto for pizza located in Auroville

Sakura Sushi located in Auroville

Mass sea food restaurant A/C in Pichavaram



I then did a spontaneous trip to Bangalore to go watch my bestie Fabien perform, it was so worth it, I had the best time ever and plus his friend Inge was with me and the trio was perfect. He performed in Juliet Bar and it was beautiful, I highly recommend you to go check it out if you are in Bangalore. 













I then left for Mumbai, I have to say, I free-styled this one a little too much and had to reserve a hotel room for 30 days at Sofitel Mumbai because I needed a base to come back to and also keep my luggages. It did cost me more than if I planned an air bnb ahead of time but no regret, I really enjoyed my time at the hotel, the area was very safe so could walk around and I had access to several activities along with restaurant walking distance. 

Restaurants in Mumbai:

Bastian Bandar West location - Nice place as lounge or dance.

Asilo St Regis - Perfect rooftop to watch the sunset.

Koishii St Regis - My spot when in Mumbai.

Subko Bandra location - Great lunch spot, the vibe is great. 

Trishna in Colaba - The best garlic butter crab.

The Bombay Canteen

Ode Dining - I went like 3 times, love the food, drinks and vibe.

Coucou by Oberoi - Good lunch place if you go shopping in the mall.

Ekaa Mumbai - Expentimental type of cuisine and it was delicious.

Indian accent - Great for dinner.

Slink & Bardot - Great for nightlife.




I then took my parents for a trip to Ahmedabad. I have never done a trip just with them so figured this would be the perfect occasion. They were very excited and we did have a good time. We stayed at the ITC Narmada, this is my third time and I have to say the service and experience is consistent so highly suggest it. I had some excursions in mind for my parents and requested the hotel concierge to book the car plus guide for us.

Excursions: 

We did all these back to back in one day, the first stop was 3 hrs away and work our way back.

Rani Ki Nav

Modhera Sun Temple 

Adalaj Ni Vav

Dandi Kutir 



SAFETY: I would like to touch base on this as well, as news across the world portrays India as the rape country, many fear to travel especially women. I can understand but unfortunately rape occurs literally in most of the country on this planet including countries I have lived in USA & France. 

We must not fear and let the media brainwash us into creating fear, we are strong as women and we must simply apply the solo female travel protocol:
-Be aware of your surrounding at all time.
-Carry some protective tools to defend yourself, I carry a pepper spray and Swiss knife sometimes. 
-Learn and respect the culture of the country you are going to especially dress code.
-Never share too much information with strangers.
-Never get too alcoholized. 
-Share your location at all time with some you trust.
-Never mention you are traveling alone.
-Never show fear, it will make you vulnerable, instead just be smart, vigilant and always follow your inner instinct.

We are fed so much information that often creates fear into us but life has so much beautiful moments to offer so let's learn to be more courageous and have a strong faith that everything will be alright.




VoilĂ , bisous...