Everything you ever wanted to know about milk, its uses and by-products, from the basic processing practices of the 1950s to cutting-edge industrial developments as pioneered by the Lactalis Group today. Not just a retrospective exhibition, this is a..

As it is now, the chateau essentially dates from the 13 and 15C, brightened up in the 16C with bay and dormer windows made from white tuff rock. The crypt and the keep (wonderful 11C carpentry ) are the oldest. The rooms are decorated with pictures ..

Many paintings by Croat, German, Brazilian and French painters, among them two Laval painters, Jules Lefranc and Henri Trouillard. The studio of the Rousseau the customs man has been reconstructed.

This church, which was built between 1397 and 1407 for the Friars Minors, has a remarkable collection of 7 altarpieces from the 17C. The largest is by a member of the Corbineau family who made Laval into a famous centre for the manufacture of alt..

A terraced garden offering beautiful views onto the Mayenne, the lower town and the castle keep. It features a rose garden, large trees, ornamental lakes and waterfalls interspersed with lawns and flower beds. The Fire-Crest, 1923 single-handed Atlan..

From the the left bank there are extensive fine views of Laval, lying on the tranquil banks of the River Mayenne (its current course was defined by work in the 19C).

This square pays homage to Antoine-Philippe de Talmont, Duke of La Trémoille who was the last lord of Laval. Formerly the residence of the counts of Laval ( Nouveau Château ), the 16C courthouse’s long Renaissance façade runs along the bottom of the ..

Surrounded by a sea of green, this round machicolated 15C tower is a remnant of the surrounding wall of the town.

This narrow street is flanked by beautiful corbelled houses (16C) and 18C residences. At the junction with the Grande-Rue, note the Renaissance Maison du Grand Veneur (house of the Great Huntsman), built around 1554, with a façade and windows sculpte..

This street is lined by old houses. One of them, from the 16C, is adorned with statues of the Virgin and the saints.

The building has undergone many repairs and changes. In the nave and crossing there are Angevin or Plantagenet vaults (convex arches on ribbed vaults with keystones of differing heights). Standing in front of the chancel is a beautifully painted Antw..

The medieval town's main street. It stretches down to the River Mayenne, passing by half-timbered and corbelled dwellings and stone-built Renaissance houses.

This street climbs up between medieval dwellings. In a niche at the top there is a charming statue of St René.

In the old days, this gate provided direct access to the Concise forest. It dates back to the 14C; standing on each side are two rounded towers with machicolations. In 1844 the son of a tinsmith, Henri Rousseau , was born inside the tower to the rig..

Note the two old half-timbered houses just before reaching the Beucheresse Gate.

In this square stands the statue (by Zadkine ) of the famous citizen of Laval Alfred Jarry (1873-1907), an able cyclist, inventor of pataphysics (the science of imaginary solutions), and the author of Père Ubu .

An originally fortified 13C humpbacked structure, this old bridge gives visitors a representative picture of the old town, with its tiled roofs, narrow streets flanked by half-timbered houses and the old chateau's keep topped by a viewing gallery.

The museum displays archaeological finds uncovered in the region. Its impressive building is accessed by stairs guarded by sculpted bronze animals by Gardet. In the square there is a bust of the sailor Alain Gerbault.

A church with a composite façade (the doorway is decorated with an attractive terracotta Virgin) and five naves.

Two washing-boats remain, moored to the quay. These vessels were used from 1880 to 1960. Housewives came to beat their washing on the planks that surrounded them, while enormous tanks would boil and dry the washing.