In this episode, Daniel Benchimol takes us to Paris's second arrondissement to discover "Little Tokyo," a tiny neighborhood that has the highest number of Japanese restaurants in the city. Daniel also walks us through the Sainte-Anne covered passageway, one of Paris's many gorgeous glass-canopied walkways.

The future of the railroad depends on whether George Stephenson's locomotive, 38 cars long, will run or not. The local townspeople debate whether it will go full speed ahead or not budge at all due to its size.

Indila, a French singer whose first single "Dernière Danse" (Last Dance) topped the chart in 2013, talks about her debut as a singer. She felt more comfortable as a writer and composer of melodies and only recently started singing onstage.

The thirty-four-year-old singer Zaz made her debut in 2010 (after singing on the streets of Paris for a while, like her famous predecessor, Edith Piaf). Her single "Eblouie par la nuit" (Blinded by the Night) was hugely successful and is sure to dazzle you too.

In this video, Daniel Benchimol takes us to Paris's thirteenth arrondissement, where you can discover an area known as "La Petite Alsace" (Little Alsace) and enjoy the best butter croissants in the Paris region!

George Stephenson tries out his invention, a steam locomotive. He allows his son, Robert, to ride on it as long as he stays on the edge of the carriage and gets ready to jump off if the rails buckle under the weight of the locomotive... which they do. Luckily his son followed his instructions!

In his song "Zombie," Maître Gims wants to wake up from his Zombie state and take charge of his destiny by removing the chains that hold him back: warding off the darkness, confusion, and paranoia surrounding his life.

Years of research and trial and error culminated in the invention of the first locomotive on rails. Not bad for a father-and-son experiment. That's what Murdoch and his son George achieved in 1797.

Daniel Benchimol concludes his tour of Paris's tenth arrondissement by taking us through the "Nouvelle Athènes" (New Athens) neighborhood, home of some of the great figures of nineteenth-century romanticism. The tenth is also home to the smallest house in Paris, at less than five meters (sixteen feet) high!

In "Je suis Charlie" (I Am Charlie), Fabien Marsaud a.k.a. Grand Corps Malade commemorates the victims of the devastating attack on the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. As the slam poet notes, "I prefer to pick up a pen because tonight I am Charlie."

Lionel introduces us to the tiny village of Frémestroff, which has three hundred seven inhabitants and is located twenty-five kilometers from the German border. It boasts one farm, one bakery, a woodworker, and a shepherd. Some of the older residents have a distinctive accent and still speak a dialect from the Lorraine that resembles German.

In part two of this series, "Once upon a Time... the Discoverers," Maestro talks about Cugnot, the inventor of the steam traction engine.

Over thirty French bakeries from the Vendée region show off their skills in a galette des rois (Kings' cake) contest. The lucky judges, whose onerous task is to taste those delicious galettes, go to great lengths to explain their choices and make our mouths water. The galette des rois is traditionally served at Epiphany and is notoriously difficult to make. It comes in two varieties, flaky or brioche, and is available at French bakeries throughout the month of January.

In the series "Once Upon a Time... the Discoverers," the Maestro lets off some steam. Some two thousand years ago, Heron invented the steam machine in Alexandria, but it took two millenia to perfect the invention and put it to practical use.

Oldelaf, aka Olivier Delafosse, sings "Je mange" (I Eat). This darkly humorous video paints a portrait of a modern man's dysfunctional relationship with food. If it sounds a little too familiar to you, that could mean it's time for a game of table tennis (with a partner)!