Lionel is with Roger in the town of Domrémy, the birthplace of Joan of Arc. You will discover the statue of the three saints who spoke to Joan at the age of thirteen and a half, as legend has it.

How did Napoleon conquer and then lose nearly all of Europe in a span of just fifteen years? Find out in the second part of this series.

At its peak, under Napoleon, the French territory was three times as large as it is today thanks to the emperor's very successful military campaigns. What was his secret?

The first massively photographed insurrection, the Paris Commune, which began on March 18, 1871, revealed the extraordinary power of images, both close to reality and subtly manipulated.

The Paris Commune was one of the first extensively photographed revolutionary movements. In its infancy, photography wasn't able to capture motion, but professionals from both sides understood the power of images and used them to convey their own visions of the events.

New Caledonia is still part of France and has not gained its independence despite lenghthy negotiations between loyalists and separatists. Now that the Kanak population is a minority, independence seems unlikely. For more info on New Caledonia, check out these links: https://bit.ly/3cnZgzs, https://bit.ly/2EWfOBG, https://bit.ly/2SyqOrw.

In 1988, New Caledonia was on the verge of a civil war as the native population, the Kanaks, rebelled against economic injustice and demanded their independence. A violent incident on the island of Ouvéa prompted the French government to intervene and even bring in a SWAT team. More violence ensued as negotiations failed.

In New Caledonia, the last French colony, two societies continue to coexist: the descendants of the white colonists known as "Caldoches," and the native Kanaks, whose numbers were decimated by the colonists beginning in 1853.

We continue our visit to Liverdun with Lionel. The town features a lot of houses with gerbières, or hayloft windows, through which people would hoist sheaves of wheat.

Gérard tells us about the history of Antibes, from the time of Julius Caesar to the construction of the city walls and the Fort Carré.

The village of Liverdun has an interesting fountain with a huge underground reservoir that collects water from the nearby Moselle River. In the Middle Ages, people used the religious statues on the village's street corners to orient themselves.

Lionel is in the town of Grand, a Gallo-Roman city whose origin is puzzling, as there was no main source of water in the area.

Patricia has unearthed some very interesting, obscure French laws. For example: "Any woman wishing to dress like a man must request permission from the police department." Thankfully, no one obeys these antiquated laws!

Patricia takes a close look at some old French laws that are still on the books but no longer enforced. For example, it's technically forbidden to name one's pig "Napoleon."

Where does Santa Claus come from? Santa's history begins in the third century in the city of Myra in Turkey, then to the Netherlands, then finally to America and back to Europe. But where Santa lives still remains a mystery...