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

Abandoned railway line circling the city of Paris.

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

The vast, legendary catacombs hold secrets much stranger than stacked bones.

A 90-acre park on former landfill that hosts an annual kite festival.

The century-old bell and clock tower at UC Berkeley is the third-tallest in the world, and has fossils.

This subtle Berkeley paving stone actually marks off a lawless tube of air that extends into space.

Where the alchemists dream of transmuting base metal into gold was actually achieved.

An vast warehouse of everyday treasures in Berkeley, CA.

A pier that used to act as a busy ferry dock is now a decaying favorite of local fisherman and urban artists.

A shape-shifting buy-sell-trade bookstore, born to Beatnik Era spirit.

Prone to disastrous fires, the city of San Francisco has the Guardian, a fireboat gifted by residents, to watch over them from the bay.

Built in 1906, this unique building was the first Hindu temple in the United States.

These WWII-era murals were initially booed as a libelous portrayal of the American dream but have survived multiple attempts to have them destroyed.

At the base of the Golden Gate Bridge, a small sign basically begs for a high-five.

The neighborhood church casts a breast-shaped shadow that locals have come to call the “two o’clock titty.”

The second building of its name to occupy this location might be the finest flatiron building in San Francisco.

A quiet nook at the top of a little-known hilltop park named after California's first poet laureate.

An enormous artwork that colorfully celebrates over 150 years of US military achievements.

Only hotel where you can legally launder money.

Once the largest windmill outside of Holland, with enormous 114 foot sails.

This grinning pup statue is all that's left of what was once a ubiquitous Bay Area diner chain.

America's oldest Italian restaurant is a San Francisco institution.

The key to turning shifting dunes into the green oasis of Golden Gate Park.