KMK: Seorae Village

This past weekend my friends and I went in search of the French village, Seorae, nestled in the heart of Seoul. I had heard of Seorae from my friend Rebecca who not only speaks French fluently, but also studied abroad in Paris. She eagerly wanted to find the small French enclave and her desire rubbed off on me. We set off on Saturday afternoon thinking that finding a bunch of French people wandering around would be a breeze in homogenous Seoul. How wrong we were!

I got the directions to the village from the web. First, we took a taxi to Seoul Express bus Terminal’s exit number five. From there we were supposed to walk until we found Yisu overpass and then follow Seorae road to the village. Sounds easy, but we ended up searching hi and low and asking every Korean and Westerner we could find, before finally stumbling upon Seorae.

Our first clue happened to be the red white and blue sidewalks that pay tribute to the French flag and became our own personal yellow brick road to crepes and quiche. Once in the village we quickly spotted the wine cafes and bistros and restaurants dotting the street. We also dodged groups of basketball dribbling youths scampering down the sidewalk chattering away in French.

We popped into a restaurant for lunch and then twittered away the afternoon sipping lattes at a nearby cafe.
Seorae, also known as Montmartre, is a fantastic spot to get a taste of France right here in Seoul. The area is settled by French expats and their families. There is also a French High School and nearby a Park known as Montmontre Park which hosts public events.