Gapyeong: A Little Piece of France in Korea

France...in Korea?! An unusual attraction in the Gyeonggi Province of South Korea, you'll find a little piece of France aptly named, Petite France. We had taken a tour to visit Nami Island, and this specific tour just happened to include a stop off at this bizarre little 'theme park'. If I haven't said it enough, in nearly every tourist spot you can be assured that a K-drama or K-pop group has filmed there. Sticking with the trend, many K-dramas have been filmed here, including Beethoven Virus, My Love From the Star and Secret Garden.

We only had a brief one-hour stop at this attraction; however, despite the short period of time to explore, it felt like more than enough. We were able to enjoy the beautiful views from the top of the hill and visit the different buildings in peace, as it was far from crowded.

Within each building you could find rooms elegantly staged as if you were stepping back into time, with antiques displayed throughout. Other buildings were more targeted to children, allowing for dress-up and the chance to perform their own puppet show.

There were a group of school kids who arrived not long after us, but despite this, the park still appeared as a ghost town. Soft music plays gently over the loudspeakers hidden throughout the park, a trickle of water spills from the fountain in the cafe area, and an occasional door creaks or slams. With only the infrequent passerby, we felt totally alone in this little unusually placed replica of France.

 Anyone who knows me well knows that I am terrified of animatronics for no particular reason. But my fear doesn't stop there, I also find old dolls and puppets/marionettes quite terrifying. I am sure my American Girl doll Samantha had something to do with this (cue the childhood trauma). With this information in mind, Brent managed to somehow coax me into a literal dollhouse with over 300 dolls inside. It also happened to be one of the only areas that didn't have any music playing, which only made it that more eerie.

Not to mention there was a mysterious large amount of water on the floor with no source of a leak. Those dolls look quite suspicious...

As we ducked in and out of the various rooms, including the room dedicated to Antoine de Saint-Exupery's story of Le Petite Prince (The Little Prince), we realized that staff was few and far between. There were times that it felt like we were entering areas tourists weren't supposed to venture into, but with no one there to guide or stop, us we may have accidentally opened a few mysterious-looking doors.

We didn't eat in the cafe, but it looked like there were a handful of basic snacks offered, such as ice cream, pizza, hot dogs, churros and a few various beverages. Rumor has it that they sell the tasty spicy rice-cake treat tteokbokki here; however, we did not see any during our visit. I would plan on eating ahead of this visit if possible. But I do imagine on a warm summer day a nice ice cream would really hit the spot as you strolled down the walkways lined by the brightly-colored French-inspired buildings.

Fairytale-enthusiasts may still find charm in this quaint little attraction; however, although Petite France was certainly a unique spot, I found it to be underwhelming and a sight I wouldn't mind cutting out of my itinerary the next time we venture out of Seoul.