Daniel Benchimol shows us around Cabourg in Normandy. There, you'll find a casino and the famous Grand Hôtel, where Marcel Proust stayed and found inspiration for his book In Search of Lost Time.

Daniel Benchimol visits Fontainebleau, a town south of Paris that many French kings visited. Its magnificent Renaissance style castle was Napoleon's favorite residence.

We continue our tour of the Norman Vexin region with a stop in the hamlet of Boisgeloup, where Pablo Picasso once lived. If you get hungry while strolling around this charming little village, make sure to stop in the bakery Chez Valérie et Patrick Bunel, which won an award for best traditional baguette. You can eat one while admiring the beautiful Saint-Jean-Baptiste Church for a wonderful sensory experience.

As Daniel explains, Joan of Arc is a bit of an "obsession" among French people, and tributes to her can be found in many towns across France. Compiègne has particularly close ties to the country's patron saint—after assisting the town in its fight against the Burgundians, she was captured by them in 1430.

In the final installment of his tour of Compiègne, Daniel takes us to the "Haras National" (National Stud Farm), where some of the most prestigious horses in France have been raised since the 1700s. He also shows us the Imperial Theater, built by Napoleon III, and the Museum of Internment and Deportation, which commemorates the prisoners of the Royallieu concentration camp.

Daniel takes us to Soissons, an ancient city that was the first capital of France. He shows us the memorial commemorating the victims of World War I and depicting the legend of the famous Soissons vase.

Daniel Benchimol continues to explore the town of Soissons on an exceptionally hot summer day. There's no better time to explore the magnificent twelfth-century cathedral of Soissons to cool off and admire this gothic architectural masterpiece, including the stained glass wall depicting religious scenes.

Daniel introduces us to the town of Auvers-sur-Oise, famous as a source of inspiration for a number of impressionist painters, notably Vincent Van Gogh. He also gives us a sneak peek into the Daubigny Museum, dedicated to the work of the pre-impressionist Charles-François Daubigny.

Daniel finishes up his tour of Auvers-sur-Oise with an appreciation of Vincent Van Gogh, who completed an astounding eighty paintings during his two-month sojourn in the village. In this video, you'll see the inn where the artist stayed during his visit, along with some of the gorgeous stops on the "painters' discovery" tour of Auvers-sur-Oise. It's easy to see why the village was such an inspiration to the impressionists!

Daniel begins his tour of Nemours with a visit to the twelfth-century castle, which has the rare distinction of standing right in the center of town. Nemours was the hometown of the famous Du Pont family, who immigrated to the United States in the 1800s and created a business empire.

The town of Nemours is linked to the history of the United States in two important ways. Daniel will tell you more about that in this segment of his tour, and he'll also show you a group of charming bridges called the "Ponts des Petits Fossés" (Little Ditch Bridges).

Daniel Benchimol takes us to Mont-Valérien, the highest vantage point just outside of Paris, where you will be able to take in a sweeping view of the capital. Mont-Valérien also represents a sad part of history, a site where thousands were executed during World War II. General de Gaulle inaugurated a memorial in 1962 to honor its victims.

Daniel continues his visit to Maisons-Laffitte, home to many famous actors, authors, politicians, business tycoons, and others. According to Daniel, its villas are among the most beautiful in the Île-de-France region.

In part three of our visit to Maisons-Laffitte, Daniel Benchimol reveals even more interesting facts about this city. The Maisons Castle, which epitomizes seventeenth-century French architecture, has been used for the filming of many famous movies, such as Love and Death, Dangerous Liaisons, Queen Margot, and many more.

What do Charles Baudelaire, Simone de Beauvoir, and the architect of the Statue of Liberty have in common? They are all buried in the Montparnasse cemetery, home to the graves of some of the greatest figures in French history. Here are some of its other famous souls.