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India: French Pondicherry
There is still a certain scent of France in Pondicherry, India. – (France 2)
There is still a certain scent of France in Pondicherry, India.
Between the smells of spices floats like a familiar perfume in Pondicherry (India). At heart from the white city, this baker applies a layer ofegg on his croissants. Typically French products very popular with tourists. “We wanted to open our bakery at the beginning to give work to women and ultimately we developed quite naturally because people like this French touch”, says Saloua Sahl, owner of a French café in Pondicherry. A story dating back centuries.
“We cannot talk about colonization in Pondicherry”
In 1674, the French East India Company conquered the city and founded the first trading posts. In 1962, France officially ceded Pondicherry to India. “We cannot talk about colonization in Pondicherry, the contribution of France is rather a contribution of marriage between local culture and French culture”, specifies Manete Vassanty, Franco-Indian artist. Pondicherry has 5,000 French nationals, the majority of them descendants of Indians.
