Places Sophia Michelen Wants to Go

The rocky remains of an ancient Greek forest.

An antique curios dealer and hybrid taxidermist.

An all-American grocery store in Paris sells U.S. "cuisine" like Pop-Tarts and Heinz ketchup to homesick ex-pats.

The macabre collection of Jacques Sirgent, an expert scholar on the undead and all of their trappings.

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

This unassuming sculpture depicts grandfather of science fiction Jules Verne and his brother as children.

Two very different statues celebrate the literary legacy of this medieval Dordogne town.

A historic chapel and a water fountain linked to 60 miracles.

The world's first funicular powered by a steam engine.

Since 1920, one small company has defined the distinctive chairs of Paris' sidewalk bistros.

Every year, a sparkling cave is sculpted in the icy heart of a glacier.

A haunting medieval mural of the Danse Macabre graces the walls of this church.

In France, a medieval-style home pays homage to an intrepid explorer who discovered Québec.

Lyon's miniature version of the Eiffel Tower was built as a statement in support of French secularism.

A medieval church built into an ancient cave.

The castle where the Marquis de Sade lived out his darkest fantasies.

Peeing dogs guard the Roman hunting goddess atop a fountain at France’s Château de Fontainebleau.

Immortalized by artists, this church incorporates a medieval lighthouse into its shoreside structure.

Balconies that have a most unusual accent.

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

The first modern cemetery of Lyon is complete with more than 200 chapels and monuments.

The woman who helped save 15th-century France was born in this humble home.

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