Monday 06/11
Our usual ‘tokyoite’ programme this morning: homeschooling, preparation of the programme of the day, walk to the bakery and preparation of a tasty picnic.
We walk to Ebisu station, through the nice nearby Ebisu district. The weather is great.
We take the Yamanote line for the first time (while I tried so hard to have an Airbnb close to a Yamanote station since I read that it was an important feature in order to move easily in Tokyo…).
We go and eat our picnic in Rikugi-en Garden. Good bread, good charcuterie, in a beautiful garden, under a magnificent sun: not bad… Rikugi-en is one of Tokyo’s most beautiful gardens; it’s a circuit style garden with manmade hills and a pond.
We take the metro to Roppongi.
We stop in Roppongi Hills. We buy presents for Victor & Olivia, the children of Adeline (Isabelle’s cousin, where we will go soon in the Philippines). We see the ‘Maman’ spider sculpture (by Louise Bourgeois). We walk to the National Art Center to see ‘Tadao Ando: Endeavors’ exhibit (we became fan of Ando). Superb retrospective of Ando’s work. I really like it. The building itself is an architectural beauty designed by Kurokawa Kisho.
We walk to ‘21_21 Design Sight’ museum. The striking concrete and glass building, bursting out of the ground at sharp angles, was designed by Tadao Ando. There is a temporary ‘Glass Project’ exhibit of Tokujin Yoshioka; interesting. Kids are tired so we don’t visit the museum itself.
We go to the metro station inside Tokyo Midtown, a very luxurious gallery (where we buy good bread).
While Isabelle inquires about the way to go to Narita airport (we leave already on Thursday…), I walk home with the kids. We stop to buy popcorn at a very good shop and also to drink a healthy juice. I then go to Pizzeria da Isa in order to take away pizzas (it was highly recommended by Keita). But it is closed today. So the plan B is to go and buy pork and apples at Tokyu Stores and potatoes at Picard. As usual, kids love this ‘home’ meal prepared by Isabelle.
The kids are in bed at 10pm and we are in bed at 11pm. In less than 3 hours we have to wake up (to go and see the famous tuna auction of the Tsukiji Fish Market)…