Places jordank Wants to Go

The spiral staircase hidden inside this giant Parisian column was likely built for Catherine de Medici's astrologer.

The Sun King's military models, saved from the Louvre.

An abandoned beach resort in Normandy reclaimed by artists.

There has been an astronomical clock on this spot since the 14th century.

Twelve grave-faced marble angels guard the emperor's tomb at Les Invalides.

The world's largest reflecting pool is just two centimeters deep.

The artist and his brother are buried in a landscape straight out of a van Gogh painting.

Lyon, France is home to two remarkably preserved Roman theaters, one dating back to 15 BCE.

This ancient Roman bridge and aqueduct still stands as a wonder of classical construction.

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

This French castle is said to have once held the Holy Grail but is now a gorgeous mountaintop ruin.

The great Italian Renaissance painter was laid to rest here in the Chapel of Saint-Hubert.

A well-preserved medieval village nested on a rocky outcrop and surrounded by a network of cliffs, natural bridges and canyons.

Got apples?

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.

For hundreds of years, automatons moving to metallic music have been marking the passage of time.

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

The fantastic architectural models of a French traveler.

An ancient monastery, a locked room, and a mysterious book heist.

An icy lake tucked among jaw-dropping alpine panoramas.

Ghosts of France's colonial past.

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

Historic medieval fortified city in southwest France.

The mental institution where Van Gogh created some of his most famous work now allows guests to walk in the artist's footsteps.