Canada

Lake Agnes is a short but scenic hike above the more well-known Lake Louise - pictured below.

Lake Louise, Alberta, Canada. Two well-dressed stand-up paddleboarders out for a morning lap around the Lake.

Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada. Just one small piece of the beautiful scenery throughout the Canadian Rockies. This was an all-day hike up to the Burgess Shale, a highly restricted area that contains some of the best-preserved 500 million year old fossils in the world. Like the trilobite to the right, just lying there on the ground. Hiking is by permit only and no fossil collecting!

Ice Hotel, Valcartier, Canada. For a real adventure, spend a night in the Ice Hotel (Hotel de Glace) outside of Quebec City. Rebuilt in a different theme every year by artists from all over the world, it's a work of art that just melts away in the summer. Overnighting here is more like a cold-weather campout in a custom carved ice room, and it's surprisingly toasty in arctic grade sleeping bags (provided). Or just have a drink in the Ice Bar (right) and move on to a heated hotel.

Banff, Canada. The exact opposite of the Ice Hotel. The Fairmont is about as classic old-style Grand Hotel as you can get. There are many Fairmonts scattered across Canada (and beyond) and most are huge, historic, and very fancy. This one is located in Banff National Park and right in the heart of Canada's ski country. Even if you're not staying here, have a cocktail on the scenic back deck.

Paris, France ? Mon dieu, non! C'est Quebec City, Canada! Looking very wintery and European after the annual Ice Festival and a good dump of snow.

Down by the lakeside in Toronto. A different kind of beauty in the winter, compared to summer. And nowhere near as crowded.

Quebec City, Canada. In the starting gate for the long slide down the toboggan run to our hotel, the huge Fairmont Frontenac, off in the distance.

Wild Pacific Trail, Vancouver Island. Classic northwest-coast scenery, with plenty of good surf nearby.

Vancouver Island, Canada. Now here's a part of Canadian life that most people don't give much thought to. Yes, there is a surfing community up here, and plenty of good and empty waves to go around if you don't mind a little chill to your water. I went out for a session here at Long Beach and it wasn't any colder than north Florida in the winter - about 55 degrees. There's also surfing in Nova Scotia on the Atlantic side but the water gets far colder.

Bay of Fundy, Nova Scotia, Canada. A nice sunset overlooking the famous bay with the world's largest tides.