This charming cobbled backstreet is the most Instagramable street in Paris, much to the residents' annoyance.

A horde of stray cats rule in this secluded Parisian cemetery under a bridge.

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

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

Notorious artist squat renovated into legal studios.

France's most famous cemetery, with some of its most curious tombs.

A gigantic statue of a Russian soldier watches over the ancient city of Plovdiv, a prominent reminder of the Soviet period in Bulgaria.

This rose and lavender oil distillery still operates as it did more than a century ago.

In a long-dry lake bed, these groups of massive stone pillars bear a striking resemblance to clumps of everyone's favorite fungi.

An ancient Thracian city where fire rituals were practiced on the largest cult altar in Southeast Europe.

This apartment is a true time capsule of local life in Bulgaria during the Soviet regime.

Rebuilt several decades ago, its striking murals prevent it from being reconsecrated as a church.

A decaying, yet still functioning, work of communist architecture.

This massive stone and steel monument remembers a century-old battle that cost thousands of lives and nearly destroyed the city.

An architectural marvel that spans the Arda River, and has stories of a haunted past.

UNESCO-protected ancient burial ground.

Said to be the only museum in the world dedicated to the most classic of all blooms, the rose.

At this 16th-century monastery in rural Bulgaria, visitors can also spend the night.

Ruins of an early Roman Christian church dating back to the 4th to 5th centuries.

This tiny Bulgarian town offers a stunning location in the mountains and a storied history.

The ceiling of Prohodna Cave in northern Bulgaria affords a peek at the sky via two deity-sized-eye-shaped holes.

The temple that withstood the Nazis.

Founded in the 4th-century, the town of Pernik plays host to the Surva Carnival⁠—a magnificent display of masked Kukeri dancers.

"Unity, Creativity, Beauty."