marygerush's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
San Francisco, California

Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Company

One of the oldest producers of hand-folded fortune cookies still uses its original secret recipe.
San Francisco, California

The 'Full House' House

This private residence was the template for one of the most beloved television homes of all time.
San Francisco, California

Musée Mécanique

A collection of 20th-century automata, penny arcade games, and musical contraptions.
San Francisco, California

The Tonga Room

Tiki luxury on Nob Hill.
San Francisco, California

Alcatraz Island

In all of the 29 years it was in operation, no prisoners ever escaped successfully... or so they claim.
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

Père Lachaise Cemetery

France's most famous cemetery, with some of its most curious tombs.
Paris, France

Catacombes de Paris

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

Paris Padlocks of Love

permanently closed
The celebrated eyesore created by starry-eyed sweethearts.
Paris, France

E. Dehillerin

Shop at the 200-year-old store where Julia Child stocked up on copper cookware.
Paris, France

Medici Column

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

Chapelle Notre Dame de la Medaille Miraculeuse

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

Labrouste Reading Room

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.
Paris, France

La Conciergerie

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

The Bouquinistes of Paris

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

Napoleon's Angels

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

Foucault's Pendulum

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

Gustave Eiffel's Secret Apartment

High atop the Eiffel Tower is a small apartment built exclusively to entertain the science elite and make the rest of Paris jealous.
Paris, France

I Love You Wall

Paris' linguistic guide to the international language of, yes, love.
Dallas, Texas

The Texas Woofus

A mythical chimera first sculpted in 1936 as a mix of the main animals of Texas livestock.
Dallas, Texas

Texas Centennial Art Deco Buildings

A "Texanic" (gigantic Texas) collection of Art Deco architecture at Dallas' historic Fair Park.
Dallas, Texas

'Eye' Sculpture

This downtown Dallas art installation is always on the lookout.