A poem by Arthur Rimbaud is inscribed on the wall of a street that, while it is only one block long, plays a key role in multiple novels.

The narrowest street in Paris.

The heaviest gold coin ever minted.

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

The site of slaughterhouses that once satisfied Parisians' taste for horse meat is now home to a park and book market.

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

A wealth of plants and horticultural curiosities fill this charmingly antique museum.

This former KGB building is now a museum memorializing the people who suffered during the Soviet regime.

A century-old prison in the heart of Vilnius is now a lively bar, dance club, and artist residency.

A nuclear bunker built to shelter the politicians and important people of Scotland in case of nuclear attack.

Launch site for nuclear war against Western Europe.

This once-mighty brick factory is now a unique museum experience.

Crawling into this primordial cave may feel disconcertingly familiar.

These lakeside pictographs were some of the first pieces of prehistoric artwork found in Finland.

This irregularly shaped sea fortress has defended not one but three different sovereign states.

A lovingly curated curio shop in which the taxidermy wear newspaper party hats, and peanut shells are spread across every surface.

These enormous, stern-faced statues greet visitors with lanterns, and sometimes costumes.

A subterranean house of worship carved right out of the bedrock.

An abstract monument to a symphonic composer.

A British general, a suggestive tree, a map of paradise.

One of the oldest restaurants in the Seychelles.

Beneath Denmark's Højbro bridge, a bronze merman and his seven sons forever mourn for the mother and wife who left them for land.

An "evil painter" included pointed symbols in this artwork to poke fun at members of the Danish Parliament.

Hans Christian Andersen for the postmodern world.