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

Original cabaret handbills, posters, and feline artwork are a purrfect highlight of the Museum of Montmartre.

This former “ante-chamber to the guillotine” has been refurbished to illustrate the brutal history of French justice.

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

Hundreds of caves filled with thousands of centuries-old statues and murals.

The tallest stationary dunes on Earth also happen to sing.

The bank's whimsical shape was inspired by a child’s toy.

Acres of salt crystal pyramids dry in the sun along Thailand's "salt road."

A collection of venomous snakes and reptiles for the whole family to enjoy.

Time-frozen department store of dangerous and dusty relics.

A condom-covered Thai restaurant that is more concerned with birth control than food.

A public art jibe at one of the United States’ oldest and longest-serving senators.

Daily lunch spot for many of Washington, D.C.'s cab drivers.

This forgotten boat elevator was an engineering marvel in its heyday.

Before Nixon, "watergate" meant canals.

A much-maligned monument to teetotalism.

Legend has it that President Grant’s frequent drinking in the lobby gave rise to the term “lobbyist.”

Where the U.S. government kept its actual treasure, before Fort Knox.

The "lovely red Vega" of the legendary record-settling pilot.

A brass plaque dedicated to a convicted cannibal hangs in the National Press Club, and that's not even the craziest part of the story.

An obscure public service from the U.S. government that redeems burnt, moldy, and soiled old greenbacks.

This imposing Masonic temple a mile from the White House was the first public library in Washington, D.C.

A nostalgic bibliographic gem.

Fittingly, America's museum of architecture is itself a magnificently designed old building.