쁘띠프랑스

Petite France is located at Gapyeong (가평, 加平), Gyeonggi Province, and at close proximity to the famous Nami Island. The place is built on high ground and has a good view of the same river that wraps around the Nami Island. It was opened in July this year.

The Petite France's shuttle bus will drop you right outside the main gate. The first picture you will take at the place is probably under it's beautiful signboard.

[Petite France's signboard just outside of the main gate. Your first photo at Petite France will probably be taken underneath it.]

The adult's admission ticket costs 8,000won. Once you enter the premise, the first thing that will catch your attention is the round amphitheatre. The amphitheatre will be your starting and ending point.

[The amphitheatre is round although it looks like a semi-circle in my picture. The bottom of the amphitheatre is a good place to take "look-up" pictures of Petite France.]

Activities that will occupy your time at Petite France are taking photos, watching performance and walking through galleries and exhibits. Trust me that the single activity which take up most of your time will be photo-taking. Petite France is not a very big place. You can probably cover it within an hour. But with all the activities you can do there, you will probably need 3-4 hours.

[The Studio displays marionettes (string puppet) and you can handle and play with the puppets.]

[Some of the Cockerel exhibits at the "Gallery" building.]

[You can view and listen to these nice Orgels at the "Orgel House". Demonstration by the curator will be at the 40th minute of every hour and it will last for 10 minutes. Very nice music is produced by this 19th century instrument.]

[The white wall of some buildings are beautifully painted. You will spend quite a substantial amount of time trying to get all the paintings into your photos.]

[If hunger pangs strike, you can enjoy your coffee and waffle while looking out at scenic view. Sorry that the "scenic view" is not included in the picture. You are supposed to see it for yourself. There is also a dining place called "Bistro" which serves buffet lunch for 9,000won.]

[The main selling point of Petite France is its "Little Prince" theme. The novella is very popular in Korea so it is not a surprise that such theme park exists here. There are many familiar wall paintings and figurines of Little Prince to take picture with.]

[In the eyes of the Little Prince, grown-ups like the king, geographer and drunkard are all absurd people. The king gives commands because he feels he has to. The geographer records things he has never seen. The drunkard drinks because he is ashamed of his drinking habit.]

[Le Saint Exupery Memorial Hall. The full name of the author of The Little Prince (Le Petit Prince) is Antoine Marie Roger De Saint Exupery. That was what I found out after visiting the memorial hall.]

[This building is the souvenir shop. There is a snack shop beside it and a fountain in front of it. The snack shop and fountain are not captured in the picture.]

[They are the real-life "Little Prince" who will smell flowers, look at stars and will not know how to count numbers.]

I would like to end this post with the secret which the fox told Little Prince.

"내 비밀은 이거야. 아주 간단해. 마음으로 보지않으면 잘 볼 수 없다는 거야. 중요한 것은 눈에 보이지 않아."

"Here is my secret. It's quite simple. One sees only clearly with the heart. Anything essential is invisible to the eyes."

P.S. I am glad I am no longer the street lamplighter whom the Little Prince met at the fifth planet even though the planet may be blessed with one thousand, four hundred forty sunsets every twenty four hours.