Le Tour D'Alberta and assorted other places.

[craven morehead]

Some misleading advertising-

.

Cheeky Buggers !! :mrgreen:

 

[drron]

So the drive back to the hotel stopping off at the Bow river falls.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

 

[drron]

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

 

[craven morehead]

Great photo's drron :mrgreen:

 

[drron]

Now to the food.The first night we ate in their best restaurant-the Banffshire club.Mrsdrron started with a duck and foie gras mousse.This was great.Worth going back just for that.She then had a rack of pork and then finished with a lemon mousse.Both were very good.

.

.

.

I started with beef tartare.Next salmon with mussels and finished with a deconstructed blueberry and lime pie.Again all were very good.

.

.

.

So with a bottle of Cloudy Bay SB + tip it was $300.it was worth it.The service was excellent.naturally our waiter was from the Gold coast.

 

[drron]

The second night we went to their Japanese restaurant.We started with salmon sashimi,soft shell crab and chicken karage.

.

.

.

We then had suikiyaki.We did have to ask for the raw egg.Canadian public health authorities frown upon this habit but it wouldn't be suikiyaki without it.certainly enough food.

.

.

The food was good as well as the service.The only problem was we booked the night before and were told the only time available was 1800.No one else in the place when we got there.Next people in arrived at 1830 and they didn't have a booking but given a table.So we didn't think much of the service when you have paid extra for the Gold floor.Complained then and again when they were silly enough to send me a survey.

 

[drron]

Saturday and a beautiful fine day.

.

.

The views are fantastic even from the car park-

.

But on a weekend it definitely pays to go early.Ours is the 4th car in the foreground.By the time we were on the gondola the crowds were starting and the first bus had arrived-

.

Off we go-

.

.

.

.

.

.

 

[drron]

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

 

[drron]

At the top are some habituated mountain goats and a higher lookout which was beyond our capabilities-

.

.

.

You looked down on the Trans Canada highway and the nifty wildlife bridges-

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

 

[drron]

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

 

[drron]

And more of the goats-

.

.

.

.

.

.

And then it was time to go down.At the bottom the wait was now nearly 2 hours.

.

.

.

 

[drron]

We then set off for Lake Louise.Made a detour to the spiral tunnels but without a train on the line there isn't much to see but at least you can read all about the construction of the railway line.Then back to the Icefields parkway.A really interesting road-

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

 

[drron]

.

.

.

.

.

We arrived at Lake Louise well before lunch so we decided to go to Moraine Lake before checking in.It was a nightmare.They were only allowing 12 cars on to the access road every 15 minutes.As there was only 1 car in line when we reached the turn off we lined up.When you reached the Lake cars were parked more than a mile back.I got lucky and got a spot in the car park when someone left.

.

.

.

.

.

 

[drron]

There were these 2 unlucky fellows-

.

The brown bear had been hit by a train.The black bear had been removed from Banff twice.On the third occasion he visited he was found on the roof of Maccas trying to get in so his fate was sealed.
So more of Lake Moraine and the road back to Lake Louise-

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

 

[drron]

We turned back on to the Lake Louise road and almost immediately were in a solid line of traffic.People were parking 2 miles or more away from the Lake.It took us some time to get to the Fairmont and we got a few looks as we were allowed into their car park.It was just after 1300 so our room wasn't ready.Helpful check in agent who advised us to go straight to the concierge desk to book for dinner.however the main restaurant was booked out so we chose their Swiss/German themed restaurant.Again a very helpful woman who asked us if we were going on to Jasper and then rang Jasper to book us in for dinner the next night.Full marks to the staff here.
We decided to go to their Glacier Saloon for lunch.Mrsdrron had a crab mac and cheese which despite the look she said tasted nice and I had the pulled pork on cornmeal pancakes and I enjoyed it-

.

.

I apologise for my shakes.After that our room was ready.review here-
http://www.australianfrequentflyer....s-and-reviews/fairmont-lake-louise-53952.html

Caught up with our emails and enjoyed the view-

.

.

.

We then went to dinner at the Walliser Stube restaurant.Great view,very good service,this time our waiter was from Sydney,but the food was very ordinary and not worth the price,Two mains and a bottle of Oyster Cove SB-$190.Mrs drron had the veal Zurich style with a cream/mushroom sauce and I had the Mixed seafood.both meals were overcooked.

.

.

.

.

Their specialty is fondue but we are not great fans of that.Hopefully they do it better.

 

[drron]

After dinner we went out and smelt the flowers-

.

Most of the day trippers had left and the last canoeists were being rounded up so we walked slowly a short way around the lake watching the ever changing reflections-

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

 

[drron]

We then walked the other way crossing the outlet of the lake-

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

 

[drron]

It wasn't all serenity as the sun sank slowly in the west-

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

 

[drron]

By far the best time though was sunrise.just magical-

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

 

[drron]

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.