Places WhimsyCat03 Wants to Go

The tradition of open-air secondhand and antiquarian bookselling in Paris dates back to the Renaissance.

Saintly bones pressed into a wax effigy of a Catholic superstar.

Exquisite wall sculptures carved in secret by an early quarryman in an obscure corner of the Paris Catacombs.

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

For hundreds of years, automatons moving to metallic music have been marking the passage of time.

An ancient ossuary in Rouen.

The celebrated eyesore created by starry-eyed sweethearts.

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

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

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

The storefront of a ramshackle Parisian puppet theater.

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

Beggars were miraculously "cured" of their fake ailments when they returned home to this 17th century Paris slum each night.

Got apples?

A popular shrine where the Blessed Virgin allegedly appeared in 1830, displaying a holy armchair and two incorruptible remains of Lady Saints.

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

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

Walk upon the mementos of the dead in this Parisian courtyard paved with medieval tombstones.

This Parisian café sticks almost exclusively to an ethos of reuse.

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

This charming cobbled backstreet is the most Instagramable street in Paris, much to the residents' annoyance.

Notorious artist squat renovated into legal studios.

The vast, legendary catacombs hold secrets much stranger than stacked bones.

There's a labyrinth of medieval chambers hidden deep below a 15th-century pub.