An icy lake tucked among jaw-dropping alpine panoramas.

A public park off the beaten path with a beautiful waterfall and 13th century Cistercian abbey.

A quaint medieval millhouse hovers surprisingly above the waters of the Seine.

There is a strange little carving of a person seemingly crushed by a pillar behind the remains of St. Thomas Aquinas.

A tiny, forgotten park of surrealist sculptures in Angouleme.

At Monet's beloved home you can still see the Japanese bridge, waterlilies, and weeping willows that were the subjects of some of his most iconic paintings.

An abandoned beach resort in Normandy reclaimed by artists.

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

A subterranean shelter remains intact under a busy Paris railway station.

A French valley with forests so lush it was nicknamed "the Small Amazonia of the Pyrenees."

The subterranean "lake" below the Paris opera house inspired the Phantom of the Opera's lair.

This professional clown's home is an outsider art wonderland.

The ruins of a medieval castle linked to the murderous French lord that inspired the famous legend of Bluebeard.

The 16th-century church was kept in its ruined state as a reminder of the casualties of World War I.

The oldest and smallest cemetery in Paris is only open to the public twice a year.

A medieval military street hidden beneath a charming French fishing village.

The eclectic observatory castle of a 19th-century astronomer and explorer.

This 1,400-year-old abbey was once a powerhouse for music and intellectualism known across Normandy.

A sandstone block marks the alleged spot where the legendary writer was conceived.

An enchanting work of outsider art, full of whimsical sculptures and carvings.

These ruins reveal the remarkably intact layout of a Roman marketplace.

The industrial architecture honors the laborers who brought the Exposition Universelle of 1900 to life.

Ivy-covered Medieval tunnels cut through this charming town in France's Loire Valley.

On this romantic tidal island reachable only at low tide the tomb of a famous French writer overlooks the sea.