Jeanne d'Arc rode here

 

The hanging ball of the Plane tree (Platane) is an achene (akairn). This fruit, a seed-box, gradually breaks open in winter to release stiff hairs which carry tiny seeds on the wind. (wind dispersal)

Beneath three plane trees which were in front of the former hospital, now the site of the Tourist Office, the Loft theatre, a new school and architectural museum, lies an almost inconsequential dwarfed monument that is in need of restoration. It was made with 'tuffeau' stone of the region, which is easily eroded by weather. I am witness that it has seriously eroded in the last 9 years.  Increased traffic pollution?  The engraved commemoration is becoming illegible and perhaps in 15 years will be replaced.
"Ici s'élevait la porte Ste Catherine par laquelle est passée Jeanne d'Arc en Mars 1429 se rendant de Chinon à Poitiers.  Cette borne a été inaugurée le 17 Mars 1929 à l'occasion du cinquième centenaire du passage à Chatellerault de l’héroïque Bergerette."
I can't translate it exactly. Joan of Arc in March 1429 travelled through Chatellerault from Chinon to Poitiers. Saint Catherine was one of the saints who Joan said advised her. The city gates have long since disappeared. The monument was inaugurated 17 March 1929 on the fifth centenary of the journey of the heroic Bergerette (young shepherdess).