Places Paiva Wants to Go

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.

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

An icy lake tucked among jaw-dropping alpine panoramas.

The curious underground history of keeping Paris clean.

A unrivaled and rather horrifying collection of wax dermatological models.

One of the greatest maze designer’s greatest mazes.

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

A grotto-like lodge decorated with gilded mosaics, rocks and a noisy waterfall was the setting for the most sumptuous pleasure house of 1900s Europe.

The subterranean "lake" below the Paris opera house inspired the Phantom of the Opera's lair.

The history of radiation is on safe display at the foot of a radiation science laboratory.

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

Statue of death tucked in the University of Medicine courtyard.

A subterranean shelter remains intact under a busy Paris railway station.

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.

The man who introduced reinforced concrete to the world demonstrated its genius by using it to build his own house.

A mechanized clock where a man fights off a dragon, crab, and rooster.

One of the oldest medical collections in Europe focusing on rare surgical instruments.

A museum of carnival attractions where you are invited to ride the rides.

This iconic Parisian bookstore doubles as the "Tumbleweed Hotel" for traveling writers.

This massive library holds what was once the largest book collection in the world.

Abandoned railway line circling the city of Paris.

France's most famous cemetery, with some of its most curious tombs.