Underwhelmed by Carcassonne

We left Flower Camping Soleil at 7.45am, arriving in Carcassonne by 8.30am before it became crowded with day visitors.

The old walled city is a medieval fortress on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites.
Cleopatra's height with bikes on the back meant we couldn't park in the nearest car parks, but an aire de camping cars was only a short distance from the old city and so we parked up here alongside another VW campervan.

As we drove past Carcassonne four days ago and I could see it from a distance it looked mightily impressive.

Up close, the restoration looks a little too Disney and I was rather unimpressed. I've played Carcassonne the boardgame almost 3,000 times and so maybe I've built it up to be something it could never live up to. Or maybe I've seen Rhodes old town, and apart from Carcassonne's little roofed towers, it's all the same - filled with shops settling tat, and overpriced restaurants and bars, sucking all authenticity out of it.

I'm glad I can say I've been and I'm glad I saw it so early in the morning before it became crowded, but I'll stick to my boardgame.

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