Places bluntforceM Wants to Go

Where the high court feasted, frolicked, and high courtesans put their royal lovers' diamonds to the test.

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.

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

Stroll through retro Paris while shopping for old postcards and discarded doll heads.

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

This museum in a Paris apartment gives a unique look at the iconic French singer's life.

An icy lake tucked among jaw-dropping alpine panoramas.

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

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

This surreal statue brings a famous French novel about a supernatural cad to arresting life.

Noirish green neon marks the location of one of the oldest private detective agencies in France.

Two awe-inspiring globes from the reign of the Sun King hang from the ceiling of France's national library.

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.

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

Ancient paintings known as the "Sistine Chapel of Cave Art."

One of the greatest maze designer’s greatest mazes.

Natural history museum celebrating biodiversity with a parade of taxidermy animals.

This banal Parisian entranceway is not what it seems.

An immersive projection art installation uses sound, scale, and light to take visitors inside classic works of art.

This life-size replica of the Statue of Liberty's flame is also a tribute to Princess Diana by default.

A series of abstract, silly sculptures represent the works of a great modern classical composer.

This structure atop a craggy cliff in one of the most beautiful parks in Paris boasts an unbeatable view.

Pitié-Salpêtrière was the dumping grounds for women who received the dreaded diagnosis of "hysterical."

This former “ante-chamber to the guillotine” has been refurbished to illustrate the brutal history of French justice.