La Cite

Carcassonne's medieval city is a great place to visit with little boys with big imaginations. Two visits here and suddenly we were living with King Arthur the Lionheart and Sir Will the Dragonheart. The former is a composite knight created by Max, the latter was created by Granny for Dominic. Of course he then had to have a full life history but, as we have assured Dominic that Will was a Scot and so completely unknown in England, we hope he won't be asking his teachers too many questions about the exploits of Good Sir Will.The ramparts of La Cite were great for exploring but heavens above - look at that drop next to Chris and the boys. However, despite a refreshing lack of health and safety guidance, Chris proved up to the task of actually looking after his own children. How the French must like to live dangerously.
Amongst the highlights were lots of good eating and drinking opportunities that were open to us, but a favourite was a very attractive sweetie shop where I particularly admired, but did not try, these marzipan fruits. The lollipops were very well received by children and grown ups alike.
Also very impressive, as recommended by Penny, was the jousting tournament which encouraged lots of booing for the baddies and cheering for the goodies. The horses were impressive, the swords and axes real and the lances were long (although possibly made of balsa wood - see above).
As an added bonus, Mum and I sneaked off with Maddie to the Torture Museum while the others toured the castle walls. It had an amazing array of instruments with a nice little piece about how each was applied, helpfully translated into several European Languages and, more often than not, supplied with a very graphic drawing to help you visualise each one in action. Suffice to say that where there is an orifice there is an instrument and that people really were not terribly nice to each other at all.