Aldo takes us to a very special house on 23 Rue Beauregard in Paris. In that house lived a shady character, Catherine Deshayes, who was responsible for the murder of thousands of infants. She and 36 others were burned at the stake by Louis XIV.

Marion takes us along Paris's Canal Saint Martin, which is part of a waterway network that measures one hundred thirty kilometers long. In their heyday, the Parisian canals were the main means of transportation of goods and materials, and even drinking water! Nowadays, historic buildings, restaurants, and concert halls are the main attractions along the canals.

Have you ever heard of the Minitel? In this video, you'll discover vintage technology from the seventies and eighties. Though once state of the art, the poor Minitel is now gathering dust in people's attics...

Back in the 80s, nearly every French household had a Minitel. It was the first computerized directory of its kind and a precursor to the modern computer. Later on, even Google showed an interest in the Minitel archives. Find out how advanced it was in its day.

A cemetery might not top your list of places to visit in a city. But actually, cemeteries are a treasure trove of information on a city’s history and architectural taste. The cemetery in Roubaix is particularly rich, with Gothic and art deco tombs side by side.

Il était une fois... ("Once Upon a Time...") takes us back to the origins of Western civilization on the island of Crete. This lively animated series is for French learners of all ages!

Learn about the birth of democracy in ancient Greece and watch a scene from Sophocles's famous tragedy, Antigone, in the next installment of Il était une fois....

A young man consults the Pythia (aka the Oracle of Delphi) to see if the gods will sanction his marriage to the girl of his dreams. What is her forecast? Find out in this video!

While the Athenians were constructing and reconstructing the Acropolis, young Spartans were undergoing a harsh, often brutal education -- a walk in the park compared to what Spartan women experienced during the traditional marriage ritual.

In the next installment of Il était une fois..., we meet some of the great thinkers of ancient Greece: Socrates, Euripides, Sophocles, Protagoras, Anaxagoras, and others. You're sure to be enlightened by the end!

In the last segment of this animated series on ancient Greece, we learn about the later years of the empire, filled with endless wars and the ostracism of some of its most famous citizens.

The series Il était une fois… les Amériques: Les premiers Américains (Once Upon a Time… the Americas: The First Americans) relates American history from the very beginning up to the twentieth century. Enjoy the opening song about the making of America and its first settlers...

Finding food was often difficult for the earliest settlers of the Americas. Luckily for the characters in this video, there's enough berries to go around.

Since all the animals have moved away from their area, these early Americans are forced to follow in their paw prints... otherwise they'll have no food!

It's one thing to have to track down a woolly mammoth for food, but it's another thing to cook it! Luckily these prehistoric Americans just discovered how to make fire.

The series Il était une fois... les Amériques: Les premiers Américains (Once Upon a Time... The Americas: The First Americans) relates American history from the very beginning up to the twentieth century. In this episode, hunters boast about their day chasing after a huge animal.

The Maestro has made his final journey and will not join the next expedition. It's time to bid him farewell!

In this segment of the Il était une fois episode on the Americas, a group of hunters go across what is now known as the Bering Strait in search of game. Little do they know that, by doing so, they'll become the first settlers of North America!

This tribe of hunters must use whatever they can find to nourish themselves and survive. Luckily, two of their children stumble across a pond full of fish after the ice melts, giving them plenty more to eat.

Food is scarce, too many men, not enough game to kill. What are they to do? The explorers setting foot on the Americas are having a tough time.

This new episode of "Il était une fois..." covers Cortés and the Aztecs. The story starts in 1519, when Ferdinand Magellan attempts to circumnavigate the earth. His ship makes it as far as Brazil.

The Maestro recounts the events just before Ferdinand Magellan's untimely death in 1521, only a year after he discovered the passage that would allow him to circumnavigate the globe.

The Aztecs are apprehensive about the arrival of the white men. It is a bad omen. Spanish conqueror Cortés is appointed Captain and will be heading toward new territories.

November 18, 1518... Cortés, the ambitious adventurer, sets out to discover and conquer the unknown empire of Mexico at daybreak before Velasquez has a chance to stop him.