Places ktknoll Wants to Go

This banal Parisian entranceway is not what it seems.

This massive blockhead sculpture hides an entire library.

The former home of France's controversial pop maestro is almost completely covered in ever-changing tributes and graffiti.

Do these monsters look familiar? The gargoyles on this church are all from pop culture.

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

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

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

An off-the-beaten-path boutique stuffed with an eclectic collection of upcycled goods.

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.

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

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

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

An icy lake tucked among jaw-dropping alpine panoramas.

Original cabaret handbills, posters, and feline artwork are a purrfect highlight of the Museum of Montmartre.

A 14th century bridge built as a fortress, where the devil lurks on one of its towers.

One of the last umbrella repair shops in Paris upholds the nostalgic art of umbrella making.

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

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

The water-powered carriages are long gone, but for over a century this funicular railway has been the fastest route to the highest point in Paris.

A majestic lion statue guards this Parisian botanical garden, and feeds on an unsettling item.

Statue of death tucked in the University of Medicine courtyard.

The ruins of a Duke's bucolic dream, where camels once roamed alongside "Dutch" windmills and faux-Italian vineyards.

Known as the "Dodo Manège," this carousel features a herd of animals that have disappeared—or may be gone soon.

This whimsical castle of grottoes was the labor of love of a French postman, and one of the greatest achievements of outsider architecture.