laurawhitencourtney's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
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Portugal

The Sobreiro Monumental (Monumental Cork Oak)

For more than two centuries, the canopy of this venerable tree has been a haven for songbirds and lovers.
Colares, Portugal

Praia da Ursa

In Portugal, a secluded stretch of untouched natural beauty hides at the bottom of a steep hill.
Mafra, Portugal

Mafra Palace Library

At night, bats patrol this magnificent 18th-century space in search of book-eating pests.
Paris, France

The Stravinsky Fountain

A series of abstract, silly sculptures represent the works of a great modern classical composer.
Paris, France

Louis XIV's Globes

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

The Etched Mirror Salons of Laperouse Restaurant

Where the high court feasted, frolicked, and high courtesans put their royal lovers' diamonds to the test.
Paris, France

The Duluc Detective Agency

Noirish green neon marks the location of one of the oldest private detective agencies in France.
Paris, France

Le Chat Noir Collection

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

The Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital

Pitié-Salpêtrière was the dumping grounds for women who received the dreaded diagnosis of "hysterical."
Paris, France

Water Tank Beneath Palais Garnier

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

The Heart of Voltaire

In the best of all possible worlds, everyone will get a chance to see this statue in which Voltaire's heart is interred.
Paris, France

The Recumbent Effigy of Victor Noir

How did a French journalist’s grave become the sexiest statue in the cemetery?
Paris, France

WWII Bunker Under Gare de l'Est

A subterranean shelter remains intact under a busy Paris railway station.
Paris, France

Musée de Cluny

Medieval museum built over Roman baths that features famous tapestries of a lady and a unicorn.
Paris, France

Au Bonheur du Jour

Behind the pink curtain, Au Bonheur du Jour, an art gallery of erotic archives.
Paris, France

Foucault's Pendulum

19th century pendulum and a clock restored by a rogue group of guerilla artists.
Paris, France

Shakespeare and Company

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

Bibliothèque nationale de France (National Library of France)

This massive library holds what was once the largest book collection in the world.
Paris, France

Centre Pompidou

An "inside out" building in the historical center of Paris, featuring Europe’s largest modern art museum.
Paris, France

Jules Lavirotte's 29 Avenue Rapp

A scandalous Art Nouveau collaboration that set Paris all atwitter at the turn of the century.