With the Mauritshuis in the Netherlands closed for renovation, Tokyo got the chance to see Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring, the legendary painting they call the Mona Lisa of the North. There was no way I was going to miss that, so I rushed over first thing on a weekend morning, and then waited an hour to get in and another hour to see the painting.. It was seriously packed.
The ticket
The real thing is remarkably lifelike. But I honestly cannot tell what that blank expression means. I suppose that is what makes the smile so mysterious. By the way, I did not care for the film with Scarlett Johansson that came out a few years ago; the ending felt too melodramatic. The smile in the original is a bit cooler.
Anyway, I spent so long in front of the painting that I missed lunchtime. So I hurried over to Kurofunetei, but that place is always far too popular. The line was long that day too, and when they said it would be over an hour I ran out of energy and just left. So I ended up at Brasserie L’ecrin instead. It is the sister restaurant of L’ecrin, the long-established French restaurant in Ginza, and true to its brasserie name you can enjoy a light course at a fairly reasonable price.
Corn soup
Simple but tasty.
Bread
This gets the basics right too.
Roast beef
Not a prime cut, but carefully cooked. Delicious.
Swordfish
A mild-tasting fish, and this was nicely cooked as well. A sensible choice for a weekend lunch.
Pudding with figs
Not an elaborate dessert, but it tastes really good. The coffee sauce in particular was said to be delicious.
Ice cream and jelly
This one had a refined taste too. Good desserts are a basic of French cuisine, and this place is faithful to the basics.
Walking down the street that day, I happened upon a rainbow.
You get days like this once in a while. It somehow put me in a good mood.