프로방스

 

Last week, as I was reading the newspaper, I came across this place called Provence. It is a French-styled village tucked away in one quiet corner in Paju City. I visited it last Friday, the first day of my holiday.

To get there, I first took Metro line 3 all the way to Daehwa Station. At Daehwa Station, I exited from Exit 5 and when I was out, I turned around and walked towards the bus stop behind the Exit. At the bus stop, I took Bus 200. The bus journey took about 45 minutes. I alighted at 성동사거리 stop, just one stop before the Hyeri Art Valley (혜이리마을). I then crossed the road and walked up the road in between 가나안덕 (building to the left) and Santarosa Restaurant (building to the right). The walk to Provence took about 15 to 20 minutes. The place is quite hard to miss because there is this building painted in pink standing just by the roadside.

This pink building is a family restaurant

Provence is made up of a group of French-styled shophouses painted in brilliant colours. The shophouses sell things like bread, coffee beans, ceramics, lifestyle products, herbs, hand-made soaps, apparel and accessories. These houses which exude a quaint French village's charm, are by themselves an attraction. However, it is a pity that the place is kinda small and to some extent, not very well kept. It may not be really worthed the time just to make a dedicated trip there unless you really like all things French. To optimise the trip to Provence, I would recommend that after visiting the place, drop by the Hyeri Art Valley and the English Village which are in the vicinity. For those who watch "꽃보다 남자", the English Village is the backdrop for a number of school scenes in the drama. It does look like a school for the very rich students.