Short Day Trip to Petite France!

So on Monday I met up with an old friend to take a day trip and leave Seoul for a change. It was a big step for me because my lazy ass never likes to leave home (how on earth I managed to backpack through Europe is actually a mystery), but I wanted a change in scenery to clear my head. We boarded a train to Chuncheon, but decided it was way too far for a day trip and got off at Cheongpyeong instead.

We took the bus to Sangbong station... coolest thing: you don't need to buy a separate ticket or anything! You can use your regular metro pass (credit card in my case) because the line is treated the same as a subway. You just need to pay a few extra hundred won when you get off. How cheap and convenient is that?!

Cheongpyeong Station was not too long of a ride. When we got off the rain had thankfully stopped, but the skies were a dark ominous gray and not the best for taking pictures. Nevertheless, my spirits were lifted just from the mere fact that I had actually traveled to someplace new, away from work and home and everything, with a close friend by my side.

On the train we looked up some good places to eat because we didn't do any research beforehand (the destination itself was pretty last minute as well). The first restaurant that came up was a cafe/burger joint called Andy's Coffee & Burger, which was what we decided on because 1. we like burgers and 2. we're really not picky and 3. I think we were too lazy to keep searching. When we got off the train and started walking, we decided we made the right choice because there weren't a lot of other modern looking buildings. Not that modern always means yummier, but well, you know.

Gigantic cheeseburger set with fries. Includes bacon and egg too!!!

The burger was impossible to eat with my hands. There was a reason a fork and knife were provided - it turned out to be one of the messiest meals I'd ever had. I had to cut up all the ingredients separately and then fork all of them together to imitate an actual bite. Even so, it was delicious, and I was prettty full by the time I finished. And yes, I managed to finish the whole thing. It turned out to my my last meal for the day, though; I was too full for dinner!

Anyway, our plan was to catch the bus to Petite France after lunch. The bus runs every hour or so, so we had to be careful to be on time. The terminal was about 5 minutes away from the cafe by foot, and relatively easy to find. It was difficult to figure out where exactly to get on the bus, but a nice lady helped us out in the end. The bus ride itself was another good 20-30 minutes; Petite France was a lot further in than I had thought.

Entrance was 8,000 won each, which I considered reasonable. And surprisingly, the sun came out as soon as we arrived! All of a sudden, traces of rain and cloud were gone, and we were left with a perfectly warm afternoon, which we were not expecting at all.

So Petite France is a small little artificial faux-French village inspired by The Little Prince novel. It's also used as a retreat center for students, and quite a few of the buildings actually have guest rooms so it is possible to stay the night. Not that it's worth a whole night, since the place is tiny. It was a very picturesque place, with a lot of Little Prince themed wall paintings and props that you could take pictures with. The place was also featured in some notable Korean dramas, including Secret Garden and My Love from the Star, which may explain why there were so many Chinese tourists. Well, Chinese tourists are everywhere these days. :)

Tiny Eiffel Tower :)

Antique display room, with a section full of chickens!

Beautiful view of the mountains and northern Han River

We spontaneously bought postcards and wrote each other letters, to send when we got back home. 

Life-sized Little Prince in a European doll museum. The dolls were creepy, didn't take photos of those.

All these hints of spring :)

There was a model of a traditional French house, where you could try on different "French" hats from a hat rack. It was a sweet home with a lot of antique looking furniture and a pretty authentic looking old bathroom. It must have been COLD to have lived in such a house in the winter though!

After walking around and taking a gazillion photos (which I won't post all here) we decided it was time to go home. I think about two hours for this place is more than enough time to explore. BUT the second we were about to walk out, we realized that we were just in time for a marionette puppet show at a mini amphitheater! We kept marveling at how lucky we were, with the weather and with the timing and everything. So of course we stayed around for the show; it wasn't anything spectacular, but the puppeteers were pretty skilled and we made sure to leave a tip at the end.

We didn't want to wait another hour for the bus back to the station, so we took a cab and paid about 15,000 won extra. Then, as I was about to board the train home, I realized my phone had slipped out of my pocket and was still inside the taxi! My precious iPhone 6, which I'd only purchased a month ago. We rushed back out but the car was obviously gone. Thankfully, the driver picked up after 3 missed calls, and was kind enough to drive back to the station (had to pay 10,000 won for the ride) and return the phone to me. So I guess in the end, it really was a 100% percent lucky day for me! At the cost of an extra 10,000 won, which I decided was nothing compared to having to get a new smartphone. 

We happily dozed on the train, and by the time I got home it was around 8 pm. I was exhausted, probably from the 20 minutes of mental distress I experienced when I thought I'd lost my phone for good. All in all, it was a good day. :)