We checked into The Orleans Hotel and Casino shortly after 7pm, freshened up and drove over to the Aladdin, where our Brazilian friends were staying. We met them at 8.15pm. The Fountains of Bellagio played "Viva Las Vegas" while the four of us walked to the Cheesecake Factory, located inside the Caesars Palace, where we had dinner. Between the four of us we shared two appetizers, two entrees and two cheesecakes. Their cheesecakes are the best. The portion sizes at the Cheesecake Factory are so huge, that sharing is the only way to enjoy more than one course without having to carry a doggy bag back home. To our surprise our friends insisted to take care of the bill. They said that they were thankful, that we guided them through mountains and across deserts the whole day. At 1.15am in the morning we arrived back in our hotel room at The Orleans. Our total gambling loss was just $3.

Wednesday, May 25, 2005

At 11am the French Market Buffet it The Orleans was already closed, so we went to the Courtyard Café to have our breakfast. The Courtyard Café is a 24-hour coffee shop which serves a variety of favorites, New Orleans-style specials, and an extensive menu of Chinese cuisine. Shortly after noon we drove over to the Strip and parked our car at the Paris parking garage. We gambled in the Paris, the Aladdin and Caesars Palace. Over at Caesars Palace we spent more than one hour in the GAP and then went over to Victoria’s Secret. They had their grand opening of their Caesars Palace location. If you spent more than $60 they gave you a nice tote bag filled with cosmetics worth around $100. Not a bad deal.

Room no. 1036 at The Orleans. (click to enlarge)

We had our dinner at around 8.45pm at the Spice Market Buffet located inside the Aladdin. In our opinion the Spice Market Buffet is one of the best choices for dinner in Las Vegas. They offer everything from Alaskan King Crab Legs, Hand-Carved New York Striploin, Roast Turkey Breast, Stuffed Pork Loin, Tandori Chicken, and Marinated Lamb Kabobs to all kinds of Pizza and Pasta. The Spice Market Buffet is open for dinner daily from 4pm to 9.30pm. They charge $23.99 (excluding tax and tip) per person.

Totally stuffed we walked all the way down to the MGM Grand and back again to the Paris, where our car was parked. We arrived in our hotel room at 12.45am. Our gambling loss was $60.

We joined our Brazilian friends at 11.15am in the lineup at Le Village Buffet at the Paris. When it comes to breakfast buffets we think Le Village Buffet is the best in Las Vegas. Breakfast is served 7:00am to 11:30am, then it seamlessly transforms into a lunch buffet. Breakfast is $12.95 and lunch costs $17.95 (excluding tax and tip). So you can have lunch while paying the breakfast price. We, on the other hand, mainly came for breakfast, although we stayed for almost two hours. Le Village Buffet offers dishes from five French provinces. Each station is themed for a particular province and is designed to replicate the architecture of that region. Meals are prepared as they are ordered to ensure the quality and freshness of each selection. A large selection of pastries, pies and an assortment of sugar-free delicacies are offered from the buffet’s dessert station. Guests dine in a village-like setting, where they may choose to eat outside in the town square or in a casual dining room by a fireplace. This time it was our turn to take care of the cheque, and so we did.

After this extensive breakfast/lunch we went over to the Aladdin to do some shopping at Benetton and the GAP. We wanted to show our friends the newly built Chocolate Fountain at the Bellagio, so the four of us went over there (the Bellagio is just across the street from the Aladdin). The Chocolate Fountain is located far down Bellagio's promenade in the luxurious new Spa Tower. The fountain took a year and a half in planning and design. The result is a genius work of kinetic sculpture and a daring feat of engineering. Standing 27ft. tall, the masterpiece circulates more than 2100 pounds of melted dark, milk and white chocolate at a rate of 120 quarts per minute. The visual impact of the fountain is as compelling as its chocolate is appetizing: six spouts in the ceiling initiate the descent of rich dark, velvety milk and glistening white chocolate streams through a maze of 25 suspended glass vessels. Surrounding all this glory is a protective, multi-faceted cloak of 300-pound glass panels that rise in a funnel shape as the fountain expands toward the ceiling.

There was only one way to get the chocolate out of our (or rather the girl’s) minds – more shopping. Again we spent a lot of time at the GAP in Caesars Palace. We had reservations for Danny Gans this evening, so we wanted to pick up the tickets at the Mirage. Unfortunately the show was cancelled this day. They offered us other tickets instead (we could chose between David Copperfield and a couple of other shows), but we declined, so they refunded the $200 back to our credit card. The four of us then took the new Monorail all the way down to the MGM. We purchased a 10-ride ticket for $20. This ticket is good for ten one-way trips and can be shared with those in your party. At the Lion Habitat at the MGM we watched one of the shows. The Lion Habitat at MGM Grand is open daily from 11am to 10pm and admission is complimentary. The lions do not live in the Lion Habitat, but in custom accommodations on an 8.5-acre ranch 12 miles from the MGM Grand and are brought to the lion habitat in pairs for sessions of only a couple of hours.

Room no. 1565 at the Paris Las Vegas. (click to enlarge)

Our Brazilian friends had more luck with their plans for the evening, as they managed to get tickets for Mamma Mia, which we picked up at the Mandalay Bay. Afterwards we went over to Krispy Kreme in the Excalibur, where we had some delicious donuts which we washed down with milk. While our friends enjoyed their show, we hit the slots at the Mandalay Bay and then did some souvenir shopping. We joined the both of them at around 10pm and went to the Coral Reef Sushi Bar (open daily 5pm to 11pm). The four of us paid $130 including tax and tip. Food was very good, but the service could have been a bit faster.

After we helped them store their new purchase in their hotel room we drove to the Las Vegas sign to take the obligatory picture. Then we parked the car at the MGM Grand and went for Baileys milkshakes at Häagen Dazs. We then visited the M&M store, the World of Coca Cola and the Grand Canyon Experience. Afterwards we walked to the Todai, located at the Aladdin. The four of us wanted more sushi.

Todai features a 160ft seafood buffet counter with 40 different kinds of sushi, over 15 dishes are served at both the salad bar and hot entree island, and there is a dessert bar with over 20 different cakes and fruits. Complimentary birthday meals are offered to birthday celebrants visiting Todai on their birthdays. As it was Lianne’s birthday, she could enjoy delicious sushi and seafood for free. So the both of us only paid a total of $40 including tax and tip. Our friends paid a bit more, but they too did not have to pay full price, as they had a $5 off coupon which we found in a magazine. We then watched two performances of the Bellagio Fountains, before taking the Monorail back to the MGM, where the car was parked.

Back at The Orleans we actually had luck at the slot machines. The Wheel of Fortune made $45 from a five-dollar bill, so this day we actually did get lucky in Vegas. We won a total of $2 today, which - for our standards - is sensational.

Saturday, May 28. 2005

We met our Brazilian friends at the French Market Buffet at 8.30am and at 10.00 the both of them had to leave for Los Angeles. We then spent a couple of hours at the pool, until there was no more shade to hide under. Then it was time for shopping again. We drove to the "Best in the West" shopping plaza on North Rainbow Boulevard and spent a considerable amount of time at the DSW shoe store and Old Navy. The next stop was the Wal-Mart Supercenter on 4505 West Charleston Blvd. where we bought the "usual" stuff like peanut butter, contact lens solution and vitamins. Back at the hotel we got changed and then drove over to the Paris parking garage. As it was our wedding anniversary we treated ourselves to the Gourmet Dinner Buffet in the Bellagio. We had to wait in line to get in for at least half an hour but we got rewarded with excellent food in a pleasant surrounding. The Buffet at the Bellagio offers one of the most beautifully decorated buffet rooms in town. The Gourmet Dinner Buffet is only offered Fridays and Saturdays with selections that include king-crab legs, Kobe beef, sushi, pizza, chinese, and various desserts and pastries. Including tax and tip we paid a total $95. Totally stuffed we went over to our car and drove north to the Fremont Street, where we caught the last performance of the light show.

The Chocolate Fountain (click to enlarge)

The Fremont Street Experience is located in the heart of historic downtown Las Vegas and is home to Viva Vision, the largest big screen on the planet. More than 12 million lights in the Viva Vision canopy and 550,000 watts of concert quality sound pumped to speakers throughout the venue produce an incredible array of imagery and music. We returned "home" to our room at 1.15am. Total gaming loss for today was $18.

We arrived at our next hotel, the Paris Las Vegas, at 2pm. At check-in they gave us the choice of a two-queen room, which was already vacant, or a king room, where we had to wait for another 90 minutes. We opted for the king, because those rooms provide more room to move around in and are more comfortable. While the bellman took care of our luggage, Lianne went to the Paris casino to play slots and Christian drove the car over to the Aladdin, where he returned our AVIS rental car.

We wanted Asian food and so we went to Bally’s. One of our favorite restaurants back home in Vienna is called "Chang" so we were curious to see, what "Chang’s At Bally’s" is like. To our surprise we got a table without having to wait for it. The food can be described as mediocre. Not very good, but also not bad. We paid $68 including tax and tip for two appetizers and two entrees.

After our excellent breakfast we took the Monorail to the MGM Grand and walked over to Mandalay Bay, where we picked up our tickets for Mamma Mia. Then we took the Monorail all the way to the Sahara and strolled back to the Fashion Show Mall where we stopped for two burgers at Wendy’s and some shopping (the GAP).

After a short wait of just 15 minutes we got a table at the Le Village Buffet. After we enjoyed the made to order crepes and omelets, croissants, cheeses, pastry and lots of other wonderful food it was time to walk to the giant bottle of Coke, next to the MGM Grand. There you can purchase half price tickets for the same day. We got our tickets for the Star Trek Experience and then took the Monorail to the Hilton.

We then walked to the Aladdin and again tried our luck at Todai and this time there was no lineup at all. We got to our table at 8.30pm and enjoyed wonderful sushi and excellent seafood. We had a $5 off coupon from one of the magazines from our hotel room and paid a total of $63 including tax and tip.

At 10am we went down to the Café Île St. Louis for breakfast, and then spent a couple of hours at the pool. At 2pm we walked to the newly built Wynn, where we played their slot machines (big mistake - late afternoon we were in the red with $80). The Wynn has 2700 of the largest suites in town, an 111,000-square-foot casino, 18 restaurants, an art gallery, a full-service Ferrari dealership, an 18-hole golf course, and a 150ft man-made mountain complete with a five-story waterfall. The public areas are fantastic. Lots of natural light, a beautiful waterfall and tons of flowers.

Page content: Las Vegas images. The newly built Wynn Las Vegas. Vegas picture gallery. Las Vegas photos. Nevada Reisebericht. Orleans room picture. Paris room picture. Paris pool area picture. pictures of Paris Las Vegas Hotel. images of Orleans Casino. buffet picture. chocolate fountain. ferengi picture. image of ferengi. star trek. hotelzimmer las Vegas foto. hotelbewertung las vegas orleans und paris. las vegas sign picture. welcome to las vegas sign image. pictures of bellagio. Lee Greenwood video God Bless The USA. download video of bellagio fountains. venetian picture. freemont street experience. light show fremont las vegas. nevada image gallery. casino picture. Wynn Las Vegas. Le Reve. driving from lake tahoe to las vegas. las vegas monorail picture. mamma mia review. The Courtyard Cafe located in The Orleans. Breakfast at the Courtyard Cafe. Just beyond Bellagio's lobby lies the Conservatory and Botanical Gardens. We think the fountain show is the best free entertainment in Las Vegas. The Bellagio offers one of the most beautifully decorated buffet rooms in town. The Bellagio Gourmet Dinner Buffet is only offered Fridays and Saturdays. The Fremont Street Experience is located in the heart of historic downtown Las Vegas. pictures of freshly made traditional French crepes. Wynn Las Vegas is located across from the Fashion Show Mall. Breakfast at the Cafe Ile St. Louis. One Continental Breakfast combo, one omelet, one bagel with lox and cream cheese. Le Village Buffet offers dishes from five French provinces. Paris Las Vegas features a two-acre rooftop pool. Picture of an exquisitely manicured French garden. Image of dinner at Chang’s At Bally’s. The northbound view from the Barbary Coast - Caesars Palace overpass. The Star Trek Experience at the Hilton Las Vegas. Grand Canal Shoppes. The Forum Shops features more than 160 boutiques and shops. Picture of The Fountains of Bellagio with the Aladdin in the background. Mouse and Bear in Las Vegas. Lianne and Christian.