If It’s Saturday, This Must Be Paris

Vegas the First

Saturday was pretty leisurely. We certainly didn’t get up and go to the grocery store at 8:30, which in hindsight we probably should have.

The view from the balcony was great and it was nice to see the place during the day. It’s amazing how different things can be between nighttime and daytime.

On our way to the shuttle stop we encountered, Rusty, the Pigeon. I’ve never seen a pigeon that wasn’t the typical grayish with a bit of tealy-purple, like Rusty’s friend in the background, so I had to take a picture. It just occurred to me that perhaps Rusty was not a pigeon at all. I don’t know crap about birds. I probably could have worded that better.

The view from the shuttle stop at the front of our timeshare. We were literally right across from the strip, though the blocks are deceiving.

Koval Lane. Mostly just playing with the zoom on my camera.

We were at the shuttle stop because we were going to the Rio which is not on the strip. We found a restaurant inside and ate lunch. It was meh, but the changing lights on the waterfall near our table were cool.

The Playboy Hotel was across from the Rio.

We took the shuttle from the Rio back to Paris and Bally’s on the strip. This was my favorite hotel, naturally. I was impressed with their attention to detail and ambience.

Kyle had to get in on the action. It took us a bizarrely long time to set this shot up, but I think it was worth it.

Seriously impressed.

Except for the bright blue sky and American flag, this is what a lot of my pictures from Paris look like when I went there in high school.

The fountain was fun.

It was kind of odd, but we all started getting kind of lovey-dovey (with our respective partners) as we were walking into the hotel. I guess that’s Paris for you.

Star Trek and Paris. What more could a girl ask for?

They had their own little hall of mirrors area which was neat.

Le Boulevard Shops. Particularly helpful if you need Shoooz.

Napoleon’s restaurant. It looked pretty fancy inside and was for dinner only, I think.

<img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3664/3342657639_030cd5210c.jpg&#8221; width=”500″ height=”375″ alt=”Rose Window” />

Rose window on the ceiling. And look how impressive my zoom is!

Katie played the giant slot machine which marks the entrance/exit between Paris and Bally’s.

Using the people movers to get back to the Strip. Bellagio fountain show was going on in the distance.

Kyle making signs with his shadow. Peace.

Au revoir, Paris, mon amour!

Everything was pretty over the top.

I was going for a shot of the South Strip. I got Kyle and I in there too though.

I don’t know what these are called exactly, but they were everywhere with the Chinese New Year celebrations and all. (And no, I don’t mean tourists.)

These glass flowers were on the ceiling in the Bellagio going toward the gardens. They were really neat.

Bellagio Gardens were gussied up in the spirit of the Chinese New Year. It’d be neat to see all of their exhibits as they change.

I love Chinese coins.

Kyle and I at the Bellagio Gardens. Please feel free to ignore my pudgy belly.

Kyle and Katie.

It reads, “Everything’s Sexier in Paris.” I believe this is probably true. At least for foreigners.

M&Ms World was next. Oh the colors!

Though not everyone gets to the beautiful bins of color in the front of the store.

To the rescue!

The Candy is Out There.

I really liked the movie spoof posters. They were cute.

We did not go in the MGM Grand which was a damn shame.

Am I a horrible American if I say this is the closest to the Statue of Liberty I ever need to get? I guess I don’t have any burning patriotic desire to go see it, so this suited me just fine.

I would not drive in Las Vegas if you paid me. At least not on the Strip.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/langwidere/3343504478/&quot; title=”Luxor From Excalibur by Langwidere, on Flickr”>

We also did not go into the Luxor which I wanted to do. Still pretty awesome from outside. We picked up Krispy Kreme donuts for breakfast Sunday morning though.

The sign to our timeshare. We went back home, got warmer clothes, chilled for a bit and then went back out to head up to the North end of the Strip and then on to Fremont Street.

We visited the Strotosphere, which was kind of lame, in all honesty. (Not a typo on the name of the hotel. The cab ride back from Fremont Street, Kyle pretended to be drunk. He did a great job because Kyle and Katie thought it was hilarious, I was annoyed with him and the cab driver said he could smell the alcohol on his breath. Kyle doesn’t drink. Ever.)

It had little bits of each resort so it didn’t stand out much.

Except for this dragon which was pretty awesome.

We didn’t go to the top because we didn’t really want to spend $20 a person just to see a view which would be better seen on a postcard anyway. And the menu for the restaurant at the top was pretty expensive as well. Which is great if you’ve got loads of cash and all, but we didn’t.

So we headed to Fremont Street for the Fremont Street experience. It was pretty awesome.

I’d rather stay in downtown Las Vegas next time. Or at the Paris hotel. Maybe one night each?

There’s Sally.

And Vic.

The Golden Nugget has a shark tank in the pool. And evidently the slide goes through the shark tank. Do you think it’s freakier for humans or the sharks?

We ate at The Grotto inside the Golden Nugget. It was tasty and our waitress was cool. The light fixtures were fascinating.

That’s all for Saturday!