I. Me. Geri Nelson the 2nd, Geri Stewart the 1st, spent one glorious, magical night decorating Christmas trees at the Chateau Lake Louise mid November. I have to admit I did love these hotels more when they were owned by CP Rail. There was something so nostalgic about knowing they were owned by a classic Canadian company. Nevertheless, the hotels are still majestic and the Chateau is as impressive as any castle should and could be. I’ve spent many a Christmas wandering the halls of the Chateau and enjoying the Christmas décor in all its splendor. Very often, asking myself, who decorates these hotels and how long does it take and so forth, and so forth. Through a series of serendipitous events, I found myself standing in the main hall with windows that look over the lake, at 2:30 a.m. decorating the Christmas trees that I thought appeared through some form of Christmas nutcrackery.
While the guests were all nestled and snug in their beds and visions of sugar plums danced through their heads, we were crafting bows, stringing ribbons, strategically placing ornaments on the trees that would line the main hallway, where the shops would be open and the view would be in full array come morning. By my standards, this was a Christmas miracle.
My eyes couldn’t help but stare in amazement at the gorgeous wall to wall carpets on the main floor and in the lobby. Stunning cerulean blue with a white scroll design fit for…well…a castle. All the decorations on the trees would match this enveloping and inviting color scheme. Music played all night long through speakers hidden in the ceiling and we hummed along as we transformed these trees into a Christmas wonderland. I’d had the foresight to toss in a container of butter tarts to complete the experience.
Inspite of the fact that we didn’t get to crawl into those amazingly comfortable, cozy beds until 4:00am, when we did, it was like falling into the most luscious cloud you’ve ever seen float through the sky. It was like an incredible Christmas hug. Just before flopping myself into this heaven, I took one last look out our window to imprint the image of the foggy darkness lit up by millions of blue mini lights on all the evergreens on the property, forever in my memory. If you focused on street lights in the drive through at the main entrance, it was evident it was snowing. Beautiful white snowflakes falling to earth making the perfect matte for the picture that would hang permanently on the wall of my heart.
An experience to rival my most cherished memories collected through the ages. I’m so looking forward to returning on December 26th for a sleigh ride around the lake with my brothers’ family and mine. And I will secretly know, I had a hand in decorating those gorgeous trees. (Well I guess its not a secret anymore).
The Red Plaid Apron 