Issoudun is a small town in Berry, between Bourges and Châteauroux, with more to reward a spare afternoon than its plain first impression suggests. The old centre is compact: the White Tower rises from the former castle quarter, Saint-Cyr Church keeps the town's religious memory alive, and narrow lanes around the belfry still show the shape of medieval Issoudun.
The best reason to stop is the Musée de l'Hospice Saint-Roch. It occupies a former hospital whose chapel preserves late-medieval Trees of Jesse, then opens into collections that jump from archaeology and apothecary jars to African and Oceanic art and contemporary sculpture. It is the kind of museum that feels too ambitious for a town this size, which is exactly why it works.
Issoudun also has a literary footnote. Balzac came here to visit friends and used the town in La Rabouilleuse. You do not need to build a trip around that fact, but it adds a little texture to a stop on the rail line through central France.