The largest refracting telescope in Europe is housed on the grounds of a former French castle.

This stone memorial commemorates a group of French patriots slain by French fascists.

Supposed home of the camel ridden by Napoleon during his Egyptian campaign.

This church looks more like a spaceship than a house of worship.

This 12th century, partially destroyed, abbey has had several owners and was seized during the French Revolution.

The little tuxedo cat survived the trip, then languished in obscurity.

At this monastery, monks make raw-milk cheese and use excess whey to create methane that powers their hot-water system.

From the dishes to the art, this Michelin-starred restaurant orbits around one beloved French melon.

The people's champion of the French Revolution was so overcome by grief at his wife's death that he exhumed her in the dead of night to make one final replica of her face.

The tomb of a hard traveling saint is constantly covered in shoes as offerings to heal disabled youth.

This little train station is forever immortalized in film history.

Whether hero or rogue, his silver bullet is said to have taken down the murderous "Beast of Gevaudan."

More than 140 granite sculptures decorate the lawn of this French sculptor.

This museum preserves over-the-top masterpieces that once qualified artisans for membership into a medieval guild.

This pair of running lions engraved on animal bone is one of the earliest artistic depictions of big cats.

When the imprisoned pope's remains were finally returned to the Vatican, his heart stayed behind in France.

Lyon's miniature version of the Eiffel Tower was built as a statement in support of French secularism.

Celebrate the end of the Great French Wine Blight with a festival of kissing.

This folk museum is devoted to small figurines of provincial village life.

This facility has manufactured stunning tapestries for France's royalty ever since the 17th century.

This mural painted by Keith Haring was done without payment as a gift to entertain the children at the Hôpital Necker.

Before the electric telegraph, a chain of stone towers carried messages across France.

This 5,000-year-old tomb once had its own hinged door.

The former global standard for the exact mass of one kilogram sits under lock and key outside Paris.