Massive puppet-automaton machines created by French artist collective Machines de l’Ile.

An aluminum skeleton brings Chinese mythology to the French shore.

Avant garde house of Pierre Cardin on the Cote d’Azur.

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

These quaint French houses dangle precariously over a precipice.

This is what trains will look like after the zombie apocalypse.

This stunning natural double arch, the largest in the Alps, went undiscovered until 2005.

This massive blockhead sculpture hides an entire library.

A Gothic cathedral created from volcanic rocks.

Do these monsters look familiar? The gargoyles on this church are all from pop culture.

This banal Parisian entranceway is not what it seems.

Skeletons, medical artifacts, and other obscure and precious treasures all displayed in a wooden pharmacist's cabinet.

This salt marsh in Southern France is as pink as the flamingos that inhabit it.

Hundreds of hidden passageways weave through the old quarters of Lyon.

This historic island prison holds one of the dungeons from the Count of Monte Cristo even though it is a work of fiction.

A cave dwelling that was started by the Celts, expanded by monks, and finished by knights.

An icy lake tucked among jaw-dropping alpine panoramas.

A modern-day Lascaux cave underneath Paris.

A 14th century bridge built as a fortress, where the devil lurks on one of its towers.

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

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.

The first green space constructed on an elevated viaduct.

This Parisian fountain is a little bit fantasy and a little bit nightclub.