We went to bed last night before any polls had closed in the US, but when we awoke it was all over but the final counting. We had breakfast at L’Express Bar, which, sadly, had TVs tuned to the news (in French, but they were showing video from Mar-a-Lago). The food was good, but my appetite was lacking.

We went back to the apartment; it took a while to get up the energy to go out, but eventually we did so we could finish the Rick Steves Historic Paris walk we’d started yesterday. We picked up the walk at Place Dauphin, which was commissioned by King Henri IV and named for his son, the Dauphin (which means “dolphin”).

We crossed the street to look at Square du Vert-Galant at the tip of Ile de la Cité.

The walk was supposed to end on Pont Neuf, but we’d crossed that bridge several times and wanted to go somewhere else. Diane had seen a recommendation for Maison de Victor Hugo, so walked there. As usual, we stopped for photos and made some detours, including lunch at L’As du Fallafel in the Marais.

As we left the restaurant, I was accosted and asked if I was Jewish – I said “yes”, and soon found myself being “helped” to don tefillin for the first time in many years!

I was a little surprised not to be offered the tefillin so I could keep performing the mitzvah on my own, but it’s just as well.

We continued on our way to Place des Vosges and the museum. The area was plastered with posters like the one below (both English and French versions). I waited until I was back in the apartment and could use a QR reader to safely examine the code – it’s a link to a Parisian “pixel artist”‘s Instagram page!

We finally reached the Place des Vosges, which we’d seen on some Paris Walks in the past; the museum was in the far corner. As advertised, it’s Victor Hugo’s apartment, filled with artwork relating to his works as well as items he’d owned.

On our way back to the apartment, I was taken aback by a huge church and decided we should go in and see if it was as magnificent on the inside as it was on the outside. It was.

Later, we went out for a pre-dinner stroll through the Louvre and the Tuleries.

One of France’s oldest private detectives is just down the street from our apartment; Atlas Obscura had the details.

The street we’re on has many, many restaurants – La Renommée certainly has the most interesting façade (and impressive prices to go with it). We chose to return to Rarita for comfort food (Italian).

Tomorrow, we start the next-to-last phase of our trip; I’m going to miss this neighborhood (and all of Paris).

Once in a while, a Facebook suggestion in my timeline is actually useful, and today was one of those days. A few days ago, it surfaced a post from the Les Frenchies group which suggested going to Hotel de la Mârine to enjoy seeing opulence without schlepping out to Versailles and fighting the crowds there.

We followed the advice and walked there this morning; it was grey and dreary, but even a grey day in Paris offers delights.

The building itself is enormous and glorious; the French Navy used it as their headquarters for more than two centuries and preserved things very well. We toured the apartments of the Intendants of the Garde-Meuble de la Couronned and we quite enjoyed it. They give you a headset which offers (sometimes amusing) commentary as you go through the apartments (much opulence, though not up to Versailles’ level); you also get to explore the State Rooms. The building also played a role in the Revolution.

The views of the Place de la Concorde are terrific (I can only imagine what they’d look like on a sunny day).

After lunch, we decided to follow Rick Steves’ Historic Paris Walk, beginning at Notre Dame. They expect to reopen the cathedral in December; right now, there are bleachers opposite the main entrance to let you see the façade and the progress that’s being made – it’s actually easier to see the entrance than it was before the fire.

The next stop on the tour was the Memorial to the Martyrs of the Deportation, in a little park across from the rear of Notre Dame. It was sobering, especially considering the stakes of the Presidential election today.

We spent a long time at the Memorial before resuming the tour; our next visit was to Église Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre, a Mekite Greek Catholic church on the Left Bank. It’s older than Notre Dame (and much smaller).

Our next stop was at Shakespeare and Company, another place I’d heard of but had never visited. We left empty-handed.

We passed by the Church of St. Séverin and the Fountain of Saint Michael.

And that was it for today; we’ll have to finish the walk tomorrow.