Places Sputnicktatorship Wants to Go

Once a 19th-century brasserie, this McDonald's exterior celebrates Alsatian design and the "King of Beer."

This recessed garden protects thousands of mountain plants by creating its own microclimates.

The remaining relics of the patroness of Paris lie in a chapel under a striking double spiral staircase.

This Parisian gem is one of the most incredible ethnographic museums in the world.

This bridge was constructed from the rubble of the infamous Bastille.

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

Walk through spectacular aisles of hanging meat and wagon wheel–sized cheese at the world's largest wholesale food market.

The narrowest street in Paris.

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

Architect Le Corbusier built his friend a cubist house to match his impressive collection of cubist art.

Despite being considered a thoroughly American sport, basketball's oldest surviving playing field is found in the basement of a Paris YMCA.

135 bronze medallions mark a French meridian line which once rivaled the hotshot Greenwich timeline.

Museum on French naval history, with magnificent figureheads, a historic diving suit, and a boat used by Napoleon.

A 16th-century fountain marks the site of a lost medieval cemetery once filled with mass graves.

This banal Parisian entranceway is not what it seems.

Remains of Roman amphitheater hidden in a sleepy quarter of Paris.

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.

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

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.

The curious underground history of keeping Paris clean.

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.