Wednesday, December 17, 2008

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.

11 comments:

  1. Annyonghaseyo Equinox ssi,

    How are you? No hurry....you take your time to write. Everyday, i will check the blog and won't miss any updates. Ha ha. Take care

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  2. Thanks for sharing the vivid shots of the place which many of us probably won't have a chance to visit.

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  3. Apple, thanks.

    Anonymous, you are welcome ^^

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  4. Bingo! You have cited my favourite quote in The Little Prince! 最重要的东西用眼睛看不见...I have been wondering will you use this quote in your coming posting ㅋㅋㅋㅋ ;p

    mmm...我一定要亲眼看一看你照片里的八音盒! ^__^

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  5. my favourite quote from the book is said by the rose. You need to bear with 2 to 3 caterpillars in order to see a beautiful butterfly.

    but i like the last picture of this post a lot. it is as if the fox has spoken to him and he is closing his eyes to see the world through his heart.

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  6. ^^ oh wow the pictures are really beautiful.
    I love the paintings on the wall.

    Really enjoy coming to your blog ^^

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  7. 고마워요^^
    연세 겨울학기 1월 5일부터 시작하잖아요.
    언제 한국에 공부하러 와요?
    그냥 궁금해

    ReplyDelete
  8. 음.. 사실은 제가 이번에는 한국에 못 갈게 되었어요. 부모님이 제가 대학을 졸업한 후 그 때 한국에 가면 더 좋은다고 생각했어요. 그래서 내년 2월에는 다시 대학 지원하기로 했어요.
    그 동안 저는 언어에 대해 관심이 많은 것이 발견했어요. 그래서 언어학 전공하고 싶어요.

    이번에는 한국에 봇 가서 좀 속상하지만 제가 계속 혼자서 공부할 거예요. ㅋㅋ

    I won't give up so easily. :D

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  9. 아~ 안 오는구나. 아쉽네!
    그래도 꿈을 지켜야 돼.
    결국 행복한 결말을 맺게 될 수 있지 ^^

    ReplyDelete
  10. 안녕하세요, equinox~

    요즘 쁘띠 프랑스에 갔을때 셔틀버스 운행 시간하고 곳이 좀 바꿔서..대성리역에서 출발하지 아니예요. 지금은 청평역에서 출발해요..

    출발시간: 10:00, 11:00, 12:00, 14:30, 16:30, 17:30. 주말은 13:00, 15:30 도 있어요.

    가고싶은 사람들이 적어두세요~

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  11. 정보를 알려주셔서 감사합니다.

    ReplyDelete