After three days of being Gray Line tourists, today we looked forward to biking along the Ottawa River Trail. It connects to another trail that runs right past the campground.
 Inushuk style sculptures frame city |  Wonderful bike trail |
We biked through the woods along a rail trail and then came to the river and turned onto the River Trail. It winds along the Ottawa River Parkway, past parks and beaches, and has lots of interpretive signs describing the water birds and plants and wetlands along the water.
When we came to Parliament Hill we decided to park the bikes and walk up to see the Fairmont Chateau Laurier, another of the magnificent hotels built in the early 1900s by the railways in Canada to promote business on the rail lines. We had earlier visited the Banff Springs Hotel in Banff, and I had seen the Prince of Wales Hotel in Waterton Lakes National Park. Ken missed that one, which is the only grand railway hotel in Canada not built by a Canadian railway.
 Fairmont Chateau Laurier |  Bronze model of Parliament Hill |
In both the Notre Dame Cathedral and the hotel, we found photographs by Yousuf Karsh, part of the Karsh Festival. One of the most impressive was his portrait of Churchill, made when the Prime Minister was a guest at the Laurier, where Karsh lived and worked for many years.
We biked home a bit weary and aware that we're out of shape, and hoping to get in some more biking soon.
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