Embassy of the United Kingdom, Paris

The British Embassy on the Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honore stands behind a heavy, gold-trimmed black gate. Before it housed diplomats, this building belonged to Napoleon's sister, Pauline Borghese. She famously insisted on having her bathtub made of copper so she could bathe in milk. While the copper tub is long gone, the mansion remains one of the finest examples of early nineteenth-century Parisian architecture, serving as a quiet witness to the shifting alliances between Britain and France since the days of the Empire.