The castle was reconstructed to fit Kaiser Wilhelm II's romanticized vision of the Middle Ages.

This enormous "cloth of the conquest" depicts the Norman invasion of England in mind-blowing detail.

The largest crypt ever constructed in France was built in the 11th century on an ancient Druid sacred site.

Perhaps the most beautiful of preserved saints, with a little help from Paris.

Located in the house where Gustave Flaubert was born, this odd museum has more to do with medical grotesquery than the Western novel.

A unique underground structure dating back to the 1st century BC.

Statue of a decomposing prince that once held his heart in its hand.

The birthplace of the ferocious William the Conqueror, this castle is awash in medieval history.

The approximate spot where the last Grand Master of the Knights Templar was put to death.

With a history of slaughter, feast, and famine, remnants of the pork industry decorate this area--even its church.

The encased skull that is widely believed to belong to St. John the Baptist.

Nicknamed the "Museum of Horrors," this French anatomical collection has been fascinating visitors for over a century.

A chapel on a volcanic core, marking the end of a successful journey.

The Sun King's military models, saved from the Louvre.

A museum which takes visitors to the côté obscure of Paris.

A self-built mosaic house and sculpture park.

A medieval church with largest and oldest collection of Renaissance frescoes in France.

This medieval tower is all that remains of the castle where Joan of Arc was held before being burned at the stake.

The only remaining collection of flayed figures made by French "madman" Honoré Fragonard.

Saintly bones pressed into a wax effigy of a Catholic superstar.

A magical, macabre wax museum, beloved by locals, uses real artifacts to depict an assassination from the French Revolution.

This little-known relic crypt holds stolen parts of a Roman Empress.

Beggars were miraculously "cured" of their fake ailments when they returned home to this 17th century Paris slum each night.

A well-preserved medieval village nested on a rocky outcrop and surrounded by a network of cliffs, natural bridges and canyons.