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

A village of art and exotic creations.

The Church of the Annunciation was carved into the face of a cliff, just like the rest of the town of Haute-Isle.

Jean Tinguely's bizarre monster sculpture is hidden deep in a forest.

This stunning French estate was so lavish that it landed its original owner in jail for the rest of his life.

The post-apocalyptic remnants of a bucolic town ruined by a plane crash.

Shattered columns and Egyptian pyramids outside of Paris.

One of the last realized projects of an influential, self-taught, French Modernist architect Jacques Couëlle.

This crumbling, graffiti-covered mansion sits tantalizingly within reach of the proletariat who frequent a public park.

Architect Le Corbusier built his friend a cubist house to match his impressive collection of cubist art.

Abandoned railway line circling the city of Paris.

Collection of antique taxidermy and natural specimens, near one of Paris's oldest flea markets.

An iconic and eccentric bar for "Manouche" Jazz music keeps expanding its space—and its influence.

An antique curios dealer and hybrid taxidermist.

A charming flea market shop dedicated to retrofuturistic apparati.

Museum on French naval history, with magnificent figureheads, a historic diving suit, and a boat used by Napoleon.

A museum of carnival attractions where you are invited to ride the rides.

The ruins of a Duke's bucolic dream, where camels once roamed alongside "Dutch" windmills and faux-Italian vineyards.

A scandalous Art Nouveau collaboration that set Paris all atwitter at the turn of the century.

This off-limits room in the National Library of France is home to a system of pneumatic tubes, once used to bring books to readers.

The floorboard scrawling of a tragic madman is on public display outside a Paris hospital, much to the dismay of its opponents.

The personal library of the founder of modern neurology is open to visitors.

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

The largest medical and anatomical collection in France lies hidden from the public.