Banff and the Chateau Lake Louise

Well, folks, it's about time I give a recap of our tenth anniversary trip!  Most of you readers are probably people I know in real life, so you all likely already know that we went to Banff in December, which is also where we spent our honeymoon.  Since that first trip ten years ago, Nathan's had the opportunity to return and teach geology courses several times during the summers.  And, each time, I'd teasingly say, "Are you sure I can't go?  I'll carry your luggage!" Which is a tremendous joke, since, between him and me, if someone ends up carrying extra luggage, it's not me.  So every time he came home, he'd say, "I owe you a trip!" And, finally, it came: our return to Lake Louise.

This trip is the special reason I rented that fancy lens I mentioned a few posts ago, and I had a marvelous time using it.  I'm going to break up the story of our trip across a few posts so I don't overwhelm you with pictures.  And I took a lot--more than 400--so count your lucky stars I'm not going to post all of them!  

Seriously, though, the scenery is so unlike what I live in every day that its novelty adds to its beauty.  To me, not living in a cold climate currently or for most of my life, I am still surprised by how snow moves and collects and sounds and shines.  And because I'm still surprised by its beauty, its magical quality has not worn off for me.

We flew into Calgary, rented a car, and commenced our drive to Lake Louise.  Because the air is quite dry on this side of the Rockies, and because it is so cold and is not melting (getting wet) anytime soon, the snow is very powdery and does not stick.  One stretch along the highway was so interesting because the wind was blowing the snow across it in patterns I've only seen in sand, not snow.  It was wave-like and swirling and looked like dust.  Quite a sight to see.  This picture doesn't really convey it, because we'd already crossed the majority of the area where it happened.  But you can see a bit of what I'm saying from the patterns on the ground.

Along the way, Nathan was pointing out the geological structures around us.  There are lots of thrust faults and folds that are very visible in this area because the mountains are not necessarily covered in trees.  This is an example of a very clear fold.

This particular mountain was unusually jagged, I thought.  Like bad teeth. :)

After a four hour flight and a two hour drive, we were finally almost there!  Woo hoo!  One kilometer!

The first view of the hotel: The Chateau Lake Louise.

When we arrived, the valet who took our car had our names and sent us straight up to the seventh floor, which is where we were staying, promising our luggage in a few minutes.  The seventh floor has its own lounge, concierge, and so on, and it is wonderful.  It's a very relaxing and cozy place to spend some time.  There are several tables and comfy chairs, lots of antique books, a fireplace, and a great view of the lake.  And there's always food--really yummy food.  For example, when we arrived, these afternoon pastries were laid out.

There were pastries every day, and they were never the same.  They also served a marvelous breakfast and some impressive canapes before dinner.  And you can always go in and grab some hot tea, soda, coffee, water, and so on.  Everything is set out immaculately, from the pastries to the cream and sugar.  The convenience and comfort of the seventh floor lounge really is part of the Chateau that made our experience great both times we've been there.

Nathan is definitely a pastry lover.

And we both love our tea.

Such a nice place to wait for our room to be ready!

The whole hotel is decorated in such a way as to be very nice but not so fine that you're not comfortable.  It was wonderful.

Later, when we arrived in our room, we found a complimentary bottle of champagne and lots of chocolate for our anniversary, which was a very nice touch.  In fact, they made us feel very spoiled during our stay.  One night, at one of the hotel's restaurants, the waitress brought us another bottle of champagne and a small portion of duck confit, because the chef saw in our file that it was our anniversary.  Later, the chef came to our table to check in on us and listen to us compliment her on her food. :)

And the food at the Chateau is fabulous.  We ate really well while we were there.  They do a really nice job of reflecting their location and heritage, because there were many menu items in every restaurant that reflect either Canada (like the juniper crusted venison loin that Nathan had) or the Swiss alpine connection in the area's history (such as the Black Forest dessert we had at the Swiss fondue restaurant).

For example, pictured here is an antipasto plate which included smoked duck, wild boar pate, venison salami, and air-dried bison.

 We also ate guinea hen (I'll never look at the guinea hens that roam our neighborhood the same way again), bison loin, and an amazing elk dish, among many other interesting things.

And then we had a few fun cocktails, like this egg nog cocktail of Nathan's:

A view from one of our lunch spots.  I loved how the beautiful, huge windows all throughout the hotel frame the stunning outdoors in such a memorable way.

The Chateau had lots of other nice touches, too.

Such as this mail drop, which extends upwards through every floor.

And then there are the fun things they do outside, like clearing the snow on part of the lake so people can ice skate.  They even set out a raised fire pit so you can take a break and warm your hands without ever even leaving the ice.

And they even build an ice castle every year!  Yes, that's a life-sized ice castle.  You can walk or skate around and through it.  I took this picture with my zoom lens from our room one night.

Although nothing really beats the view during the daytime.

Such a beautiful place to spend an anniversary and go have an adventure together.

More on our adventurous activities in the next post....