One of the most powerful religious centers in the Middle Ages, dubbed the founder of Western monasticism.

A tiny, forgotten park of surrealist sculptures in Angouleme.

This abandoned church in central Lyon is missing its front stairs.

Beneath the city of Lourdes, France is a massive, concrete church.

Admire endangered plants in a verdant garden that looks straight out of a Monet painting.

Experience architect Le Corbusier's modernist design for living in the home he designed for himself.

The site of the first medieval crusade that pitted Christians against Christians.

Now a memorial, this factory was once used as a concentration camp for artists by the Vichy government.

The world's largest solar furnace uses 10,000 mirrors to concentrate the sun's rays to generate power.

A castle-like sea fort from the 17th century is now a museum to oyster farming.

Thousands of flamingos and other bird species flourish in these Camargue wetlands.

1920's reinforced concrete church by architect Auguste Perret changes the face of modern design.

A winery built on the site of a Gallo-Roman estate uses historical tools to recreate ancient vintages.

A crumbling island fortress that seems to be covered in a field of stone crosses but is simply incomplete.

This Bordeaux parking garage has 712 indoor spaces, and one outdoor.

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

For those late-night mollusk cravings.

Trek up this glacier before it disappears.

A granite rock formation littered with various species of moss, lichen, and fern.

Half a century after it was abandoned, this ghost town is coming back to life.

The haunting concrete remains of a Nazi pebble crusher can still be found in this small French commune.

For a brief time in 1960s France, families could climb into a tiny submarine and be pulled along an underwater journey.

This tiny hotel perched atop a 50-foot tower really puts things into perspective.

Longest canal tunnel in the world, abandoned in the 1960s.