Saturday 27th May
It was a glorious sunny morning for our drive to Lake Louise and we got away from Calgary by 8.30 am. It was 9.30 am by the time we arrived in Canmore so we stopped off at Communitea for breakfast. This was a great little cafe and worth a visit if you’re ever in the area.
The drive from Canmore to Lake Louise is only one hour so we took our time as our check in wasn’t until midday. We were also covering over some ground that we did on the drive from Jasper to Banff but the weather was so much better for sightseeing today.
We were able to check in to the Fairmont hotel at midday and had a lovely room with a view out over Lake Louise. The Fairmont Lake Louise is yet another railway hotel built in the early 1900s by the Canadian Pacific Railway in chateaux style. There was only one slight issue with our room; two workmen, albeit very friendly waving and chatty chaps, appeared outside our window shortly after our arrival and started doing some rendering which, unfortunately, meant we had to close the curtains to any view. All that aside, Mark decided he would go for his bike ride out to Moraine Lake and I went on to explore the hotel and grounds. It was a bit frustrating as I had wanted to visit this particular lake as well but the road was currently only open for cyclists / walkers and doesn’t open for other traffic for another week. There was an E-bike tour from the hotel but Mark didn’t think I would be up for it. Surely, there couldn’t be any Geese along the way I thought! Anyway, I acquiesced and just did my hotel exploring. No doubt he will pester me with photos of Moraine Lake on his return!
Mark returned from his ride in one piece which was something of a feat as he stumbled rather close to a Grizzly bear and her cub however they didn’t take much notice of him and so it seemed like a bit of an anti-climax. Our plan for the later afternoon had been to try and rent a canoe for a 1 hr paddle around the lake but the queue was a mile long and so I didn’t like our chances. The lake had thawed rather early this year and canoeing activity had only resumed the day before; whereas it was originally wasn’t scheduled to reopen for another few weeks. However, when we got down there we realized hotel guests could jump the queue so that’s what we did. We had a pleasant first half hour out on the lake but it was hard work and did little to improve my back pain and, in the end, I couldn’t wish the second half hour to pass fast enough! Canoeing was hard work! It was only when we were out there on the lake and looking back at the hotel that we realized our window was the only one impeded; out of literally hundreds of windows. Given I had booked months ago and had already upgraded to a lake view room I thought this rather unfair and so we visited the Concierge to discuss our options. We chatted with a lovely young Australian girl, from Castle Hill, who was able to find us a better room that was much larger and more comfortable and, more importantly, didn’t have two men hanging around on the outside.
The room move went smoothly but all thoughts of trying to fit in a lake walk were relegated to tomorrow morning and we spent the next hour settling in to our room and enjoying the luxury. We then went down for Mark to have a beer on the balcony before heading to the Fairview restaurant for dinner. This was supposed to be the fine dining option at the hotel but ended up being a bit like Fawlty Towers as most things we ordered weren’t available, they forgot a wine order and there was a small issue when I asked if we could move to an empty window table. Mind you, I had booked a window table for this restaurant back in January but they told me, on our arrival, that it’s just first come first served. Then there was the slightly bigger issue of a piece of plastic in Mark’s main meal which really had me looking for Manuel! It was then that I looked around the room and realized how similar this place was to the dining room in Fawlty Towers; wide spaced tables with couples and small groups of people, of a certain age (read: older than us), all engaged in genteel chatter. I felt rather sorry for the staff who were trying so hard but it just wasn’t coming together for them as it should do in a hotel that was attempting to trade at the caliber The Fairmont aspired to. Mark and I had lots of simple ideas about how to invigorate the place but they will likely stay within our heads!
We then went back to our room to enjoy the view before turning in for the night. It had been a rather eventful day!
Sunday 28th May
It was a glorious morning and waking to the spectacular view of Lake Louise before anyone was out and whilst the surface was like glass was very special. We do realize how fortunate we are to be able to travel and be in such a beautiful setting. However, we do enjoy a good laugh and had yet another one this morning when we lost power in our room as we boiled the kettle for my cup of tea. This grand old building clearly struggles a bit with all the demands of the modern client but it did make us chuckle whether Basil Fawlty was going to come to our door to try and fix the problem.
One great feature of the hotel is the late check-out at 12 noon and we milked every minute of that time. After the power was fixed and we had a morning hot drink, we ventured out for an early walk around the lake. It was lovely to enjoy the peace and tranquility at this hour, whilst the water was still glassy without the canoes and before the arrival of the hordes of tourists buses. It was the most magical walk and with absolutely stunning scenery; the beautiful blue water of the lake and the imposing sheer cliffs with intensely coloured sedimentary rocks, all arched at different angles. This is certainly a place to put on your bucket list.
Breakfast was certainly a more pleasant event and went without any hiccups. We checked out at midday and left for the next stop on this journey; one night in Revelstoke.
