The historic Masonic Lodge in which the first-ever female Mason was initiated.

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

Former hunting lodge of a duke who was an avid collector of impressionist works.

An odd museum dedicated to French fakes.

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

The personal library of the founder of modern neurology is open to visitors.

The oldest and smallest cemetery in Paris is only open to the public twice a year.

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

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

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

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

A museum which takes visitors to the côté obscure of Paris.

In this Parisian garden's grotesque former life as a zoo it fed exotic animals to the bourgeois and put humans on exhibit.

One of the oldest masonic museums in Paris.

Skeletons, medical artifacts, and other obscure and precious treasures all displayed in a wooden pharmacist's cabinet.

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

This little-known relic crypt holds stolen parts of a Roman Empress.

The recovered bones of martyrs slaughtered during The Terror are on display in this church crypt.

The headless bodies of more than 1,300 guillotined victims of the Reign of Terror are buried here in mass graves.

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

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.

This Paris art space celebrates the creativity and ingenuity that springs from abject poverty, especially in Africa.

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

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