Chateauroux: 1 of 3

Driving across meadows, fields and ponds of La Brenne in earlyish morning bright sunlight, finding one open café bar for breakfast: a hot chocolate with an apricot croissant from Saturday's supermarket shopping expedition was a small adventure.

We kept to the road and arrived for a second time in Chateauroux.

With about ten years in between I am still unimpressed, although it seems less dark, more spacious.
I suspect I have missed much on this whirlwind walk. I realise I didn't come across the Museum nor did I get to the botanical park that I believe is somewhere there.
I try to take in the historical information on the various burgundy coloured notice boards but somehow I feel it is only a small nod to the number of famous people and historical events that occurred here.. Somehow I would like the town to make more of itself.

YET... Witness a town hanging onto a few medieval buildings, where then, once tanners, carders, weavers and drapers lived and worked in great numbers, where today, number 51 is unmarked on the street that it is in,  and marked up the hill in the side road. Its  proclaimed mullion windows, mentioned on the visitors  have been ripped out in favour of modern secondary glazing.
HOW CAN THAT HAVE BEEN ALLOWED? ... and when did that happen?  Such a shame!

However, the lavoir, below the huge convent building high on the cliff edge, where on the outside you could see the barred windows of their cells, was beautifully reconstructed.   Barrels were placed to help people stand whilst they washed the linen. I couldn't see how that would have worked!

Postscript: Perhaps the floor was lower earthdirt in medieval and after times, before the team of volunteers etc "renovated" this architectural treasure .... and so the women would have STOOD and their elbows would be at barrel height and so SO SO... they would have STOOD to wash their linen-oh! 

Rant:
Why can't architects leave things alone or put architecture back to how it WAS even using modern equivalents? 
I was required to have my roof repair / replacement overseen by the Architecte de Batiments de France yet in the town nearer the eye of  the church  houses have been allowed to have modern roller blinds and windows that do not conform to shape and size... VELUX I can cope with... double glazing too but it has to be in keeping.  
The problem is there does not seem to be control over STYLE... even if one needs certain planning permissions! 

And what kind of oil was milled here?

 Drainage work.... and maybe afterwards they will cobble the ground anew which seems to have been done very nicely in some areas of the town.

St Martin's Gate .. once a prison .. is a remainder and reminder of ancient ramparts from the 12th to 15th centuries on which the Chateau Raoul was built... giving the name of the town.

This next, was near the pavement to one side of someone's door...something to do with an average level??? Water? not sure!

 A bit of architectural fun!

The old "elegant" Mairie/Town Hall faces the modernistic "ugly" Market Place.  As far as I can understand a lot of the town was "modernised" since the mid 1970's... not the best architectural period!

There are replicas of Gallo Romain sculptures on the side of the old Le Mairie, now being used as a Music School.  We could a hear a xylophone being practised.

Although I sat opposite the new Mairie eating spinach and salmon quiche with Earl Grey tea for lunch, I didn't take a photo.