Chateau Montebello – Fairmont Luxury

Chateau Montebello – Fairmont provides nautical Luxury

The light rain falling seemed appropriate for our departure from Ottawa – it is an easy place to stay on and on and sad to leave.  We did make an early start and even with the gray weather we blew down river enjoying a little boost from the current flowing in our direction. We arrived at the famed Chateau Montebello as the sun was peeking through a few clouds.  Never heard of this famous place? We had not either but have been repeatedly told not to miss a stop here.  The Chateau is reported to be the largest log structure in the world – it is BIG and fortunately is now run as a Fairmont Hotel which provides luxurious spa facilities for guests – even those that come by boat. The indoor swimming pool and hot tub were easy to reach from our dock as was the BBQ on the terrace. (The BBQ included a cheese station, hot and cold starters plus meat, fish and sides in addition to the desserts.)  

A short bike ride took us into town for artisan cheese and groceries. Even a little rain could not keep us from a visit to the Manoir Papineau – a Parks Canada historic site adjacent to the Chateau. There we learned about the Papineau family who built the house and served as lords of the manor in the French tradition of the time. The property was eventually sold to an exclusive club that used it and then built the log chateau in the 1930s leading to the restful stop we enjoy today.

Time to move on

Time to Leave – the last Rideau locks

Leaving the Rideau Canal takes time – time to wait and time to lock – since the last flight includes 8 locks.  Fortunately we were able to combine one and transit two chambers, but it still took almost an hour and a half from the time we started until we exited into the Ottawa River.  As we waited to enter the lock we met Chuck and his grandson, Kyler, who agreed to ride down with us.  (They did not have time to go down and back on their boat and jumped at the chance to ride with us one way.) We enjoyed visiting with them on the ride down and appreciated the extra crew plus Kyler jumped off and took photos for us to document the journey.  When we got to the bottom we stopped at the wall there to let off our expert crew and put up our mast for the next leg of our trip down the Ottawa River and out on the Saint Lawrence once again. Since it was late by the time we got the mast up and everything ship shape above, the lock master agreed to let us spend the night on his blue line as long as we were away before they opened in the morning,  so our last night in Ottawa – punctuated with cannon fire from the Fortisimo – was spent on the Ottawa River below Parliament Hill, just us an a gaggle of Canada Geese.

 8 locks? no big deal

One final Note - this KINDNESS meter is a fitting symbol of the Canadian Spirit  we have experienced. All deposits go to charities.