Allons a France!

Today was supposed to be a mellow day, and yet somehow we expended a lot of energy. Worth it though -I finally made it to Paris, by way of Seoul.

There's an enclave of French ex-pats who reside in a neighborhood about 30 minutes from my place; the area is called Seorae Village. I'd read about it before moving here and since then have been curious to visit. Glad I did.

The neighborhood appears to be very compact -there's a main street about 1/2 mile long with a few alleys and side streets. In that space are many coffee shops and several French-Italian restaurants (side note:  we only saw four French people, two men with their daughters, so I'm thinking that many residents went home to France to celebrate Christmas; will check back again in the New Year). The sidewalk bricks of the main street are in blue, white, and red in tribute to the French flag:

Lining the main street are several French flags paired with Korean flags:

 

Many fun, and funny, signs in the area; here are a few:

 

 

 

 

We had lunch at a fabulous restaurant, La Trouvaille. It was a European-style bistro, and the meals were excellent -delicious and artistically presented. I will definitely go there again.

We finished off our time en France with a coffee and pastry at Paris Croissant -a local chain which has Paris Baguette beat by a mile... probably for the best that there's not one near my apartment.

From Seorae Village, we walked over to Shinsegae Department Store. It's the Harrod's of Korea (with multiple locations) and quite impressive. I am the new owner of a sporty, down jacket (thanks, Mom + Dad!) and am certain to be much warmer as I gear up for another 2-3 months of winter.