The English Civil War began right here in 1642.

These 90-year-old murals of local kings, Vikings, and outlaws hide in plain sight in a beautifully baroque shopping arcade.

A 15th-century former coaching inn forms the implausibly grand entrance to a 1980s shopping mall.

A cornucopia of gargoyles adorns the oldest portion of Oxford’s Magdalen College.

This centuries-old pub boasts a collection of more than 4,500 snippets of neckties from around the world.

To the famous surrealist artist, liberty required two torches held high.

Located in the house where Gustave Flaubert was born, this odd museum has more to do with medical grotesquery than the Western novel.

An ancient ossuary in Rouen.

This medieval tower is all that remains of the castle where Joan of Arc was held before being burned at the stake.

A French museum of wrought iron.

His "Lionheart" is entombed separately from the rest of his body.

In 1927, a biplane disappeared while attempting to complete the first non-stop transatlantic flight between Paris and New York City. This memorial stands at the last place it was seen.

A daring D-Day assault by U.S. Army Rangers is commemorated atop the high cliffs of this strategic point.

This enormous "cloth of the conquest" depicts the Norman invasion of England in mind-blowing detail.

This symbol of the French Revolution still stands where it was first planted during the 18th-century.

The Lone Star plaque hangs in a bombed-out bunker in Normandy to honor a Texan colonel's heroic actions on D-Day.

These unique markers designate the route American forces took during the Liberation of France.

A memorial to the nearly 10,000 American soldiers laid to rest on the beaches of Normandy during WWII.

This 12th century, partially destroyed, abbey has had several owners and was seized during the French Revolution.

Europe's largest community of crocodiles and alligators.

This 1,300 year old monastery built atop a single rock was once only accessible depending on the whims of the tide.

The precise origins of this pink sandstone temple are unknown.

A remote hilltop covered in giant monoliths haunts the Brittany countryside.

One of the great treasures of Neolithic art lies within this carefully constructed pile of rocks.