I have just started watching the drama “Secret Garden” starring Ha Ji Won and Hyun Bin. To my utmost surprise, I saw a familiar drama location on its first episode which is called Petite France.
Petite France was used as the location for the filming of the action movie where Gil Ra Im (Ha Ji Won) served as the stunt woman for the actress Chae Rin. Kim Joo Won (Hyun Bin) was looking for Chae Rin and mistook Ra Im for her after the sleepy lights man pointed her to him. After realizing that mistake, Joo Won had to return Ra Im to the filming site and saw her in action. Let’s just say, she started occupying his mind from that moment onwards.
Petite France is located at Gapyeong-Gun, Gyeonggi Province. As the name implies, it is a French cultural village set in the Korean countryside. It has 16 French-style buildings where visitors can experience French food, clothing and household culture. There is also a status of the famous Little Prince and an amphitheater. If you come at the right time, you might chance upon and enjoy the French film festival.
I first learned about Petite France through another Korean drama “Beethoven’s Virus” starring Jang Geun Suk, Lee Ji Ah and Kim Myung Min back in 2008. Most of the scenes in the drama were shot there.
When my friends and I visited Korea October last year, this place was included in the itinerary just because we love Maestro Kang so much. “Beethoven’s Virus” was being played in one of the rooms and the actors’ autographs were also displayed.
Petite France is open from 9:00am-6:00pm. To get there, take a Korail train from *Cheongnyangni station in Seoul to Cheongpyeong Station which departs every 50 minutes. The trip takes almost one hour and then take a bus or taxi from the train station to Petite France. There’s also a shuttle bus from Cheongngyani to Petite France six times on weekdays and eight times on weekend.
Admission fees:
Preschoolers (ages 3-7) 5,000 won (group admission of kindergarten 3,000 won)
* Youths 6,000 won (group 4,000 won)
* Adults 8,000 won (group 6,000 won)
※ Group – more 20 people
※ Free admission for overnight guests.
To get more information about Petite France, visit the official site of the Korea Tourism Organization here.
*To go to Korail’s Cheongnyangni Station, take Subway Line 1, exit 4-5, walk towards Lotte Department Store.