The Hotel du Lac may be approached in two ways.

The ordinary, obvious way, which incoming tourists of necessity choose, is by the highroad and the gate.

But the romantic way is by water.

One sees only the garden then and the garden is the distinguished feature of the place; it was planned long before the hotel was built to adorn a marquis's pleasure house.
There are grottos, arbors, fountains, a winding stream; and, stretching the length of the water front, a deep cool grove of interlaced plane trees.

At the end of the grove, half a dozen broad stone steps dip down to a tiny harbor which is carpeted on the surface with lily pads.