One of the last umbrella repair shops in Paris upholds the nostalgic art of umbrella making.

Twelve grave-faced marble angels guard the emperor's tomb at Les Invalides.

Ancient paintings known as the "Sistine Chapel of Cave Art."

The water-powered carriages are long gone, but for over a century this funicular railway has been the fastest route to the highest point in Paris.

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

In the best of all possible worlds, everyone will get a chance to see this statue in which Voltaire's heart is interred.

Paris' fabled purveyor of exotic taxidermy and natural history curios.

An overlooked marble is the only surviving in-place 18th century example of the measurement that changed how we define distance.

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

Statue of death tucked in the University of Medicine courtyard.

Medieval museum built over Roman baths that features famous tapestries of a lady and a unicorn.

19th century pendulum and a clock restored by a rogue group of guerilla artists.

Egyptian Revival movie palace abandoned for decades and restored in 2013.

This museum houses an imposing skeleton army comprised of creatures great and small.

France's national museum of scientific and industrial instruments.

A favorite Paris bar for U.S. expats, including Gershwin, Hemingway, and James Bond.

A haunting collection of the vanished and disappearing natural world.

High atop the Eiffel Tower is a small apartment built exclusively to entertain the science elite and make the rest of Paris jealous.

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

This 1,300 year old monastery built atop a single rock was once only accessible depending on the whims of the tide.

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

Notorious artist squat renovated into legal studios.

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

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