This iconic L.A. bookshop is housed in an abandoned bank—both symbolic and chic.

A surrealist timepiece by the artist of melting clocks.

This iconic Parisian bookstore doubles as the "Tumbleweed Hotel" for traveling writers.

Remains of Roman amphitheater hidden in a sleepy quarter of Paris.

This massive library holds what was once the largest book collection in the world.

A 16th-century fountain marks the site of a lost medieval cemetery once filled with mass graves.

A mechanized clock where a man fights off a dragon, crab, and rooster.

Sacked by Vikings, blessed by William the Conqueror, dealt a fatal blow during the French Revolution—these ruins have seen it all.

A majestic lion statue guards this Parisian botanical garden, and feeds on an unsettling item.

This symbolic piece of New Orleans architecture is also home to a few ghastly stories.

A 200-year-old bar in the historic French Quarter refuses to give up its place in history, nor its role in securing ours.

A museum and shop on Bourbon Street located in the former home of the second Voodoo Queen of New Orleans.

A treasure trove of rare and exquisitely detailed antiques

The unbelievably opulent home built for an infamous newspaperman.

The first high-tech company in the valley that actually worked with silicon devices.

The life of one of FDR's possible mistresses is preserved in her palatial Hudson Valley mansion.

The deepest lake in the United States, and once the site of epic destruction that lives on in legends.

One of the most scenic stretches of road in America winds between some of the country's oldest trees.

A huge work of Burning Man-inspired outsider art on the grounds of a California winery.

The fossilized remains of ancient California redwoods.

The unedited photograph called "Bliss" has graced the screens of over a billion computers.

Four miles of pipelines form the model of still-functioning retro-tech efficiency.

A hidden world of exotic succulents and cacti.

Guarded by the Angel of Grief, the Stanford family tomb attracts an odd mix of halloween revelry and somber contemplation.