I love reading a movie critic teeing off about a film that just drives him nuts. So in the spirit of Roger Ebert, allow me to turn my negativity up a notch.
The medieval fortified town of Carcassonne is a challenge for guidebook writers. We understand that no amount of convincing will persuade you to skip it. So we do our best to offer strategies for enduring it. Could it possibly be damned with fainter praise? And based on my second visit β this time for two whole nights β I agree that this is the only way to go.
When it comes to touristic metabolism, Carcassonne has two speeds: overwhelmed by tourist hordes, and tumbleweed town. Some people enjoy the tranquility of after-hours Carcassonne; to me, it just feels empty and melancholic β a reminder that virtually nobody still lives within the walls of this once-thriving community. And to be fair, I may be slightly jaded because of my regular visits to Dubrovnik, Croatia, the only walled town in Europe that trumps Carcassonne.
Normally French chefs can do no wrong, but even the food in Carcassonne manages to be underwhelming. Despite my reverence for French chefs, I desperately want a dash of Sriracha or even ketchup to jazz up my cassoulet. All of that said, I found a few things to enjoy during my stay in Carcassonne. Exploring here with a good imagination, you can envision a far more appealing age when the city would have been inhabited by smelly, raunchy, aggressive soldiers.
And after dark, the city β while deserted β does have a certain floodlit magic. It feels like a stage set: Perfect for a postcard or a coffee-table book, but torturously dull to explore.
