VACANCES EN FRANCE: PARTIE DIX / HOLIDAYS IN FRANCE: PART TEN

One Hotel Room at a Time. 

From a distance, Carcassonne looks like a fairy-tale medieval city. As we drove towards the castle it was bathed in sunshine and highlighted by dark clouds, La Cité, as the old walled city is known, is truly breathtaking.

Carcassonne is a fortified French town in the Aude department, of which it is the prefecture, in the former province of Languedoc. It is divided into the fortified Cité de Carcassonne and the more expansive lower city, the ville basse.

But once inside, La Cité loses its magic and mystery. No doubt that Carcassonne has many qualities as a well preserved medival city. However, because of the 3.5 million visitors annually, Carcassonne looks and feels like a tourist shopping outlet. There are only small glimpses of how amazing this place once was, it is a bit disturbing if you try to look for the more original city inside the outer walls. 

Please Note: all of the images were taken by Justin, for some reason I went on a photography hiatus and did not take any image for three days.