*Updated 8/12.....11 days on the road (& in the air)...my TR! About This Page:

[LSUtigerfan]

Okay, I am going to try and keep this TR as short as I can...y'all know how I tend to ramble !

The general trip itinerary was:
Thurs. 7/14: drive from Little Rock, AR to Northshore/New Orleans, LA area
Fri. 7/15 thru Sun. 7/16: Las Vegas, NV
Mon. 7/17 thru Wed. 7/19: Baton Rouge, LA
Thurs. 7/20 thru Sun. 7/24: New Orleans area then drive back to Little Rock on Sun.

Now, I need to clarify the fact that we recently were relocated to Little Rock, AR...much to my dismay...don't get me wrong, I am happy here, it is beautiful, but it is NOT home! I miss my family terribly, and I don't like cold weather! It's ok to visit (like Colorado or NYC in the winter) but I prefer the balmy deep south weather. So, enough of that!

Thurs. morning 7/14: Had to say goodbye to my four legged babies, the 3 of them were off to the vet for an 11 night stay (imagine that bill $$$ ). I knew my baby Boudin would be bigger than my other baby, Magic when we came home I really hated to leave them, but I had no choice. Our drive to my MIL's house was smooth & uneventful. My dh drove the entire way...7 hours! Once we got into town we unloaded our suitcases then we went to my oldest dd's Paran's house (godfather) for a visit. We had pizza for dinner and saw their beautiful new home. The girls (they have 2 dd's also) played princess dress-up for a few hours. Their Mom (my youngest dd's Nanny/godmother) is a complete Disney freak, has purchased EVERY girly Disney costume that ever existed, along with all accessories, so they had a blast. We had Christmas in July, since we haven't seen them in about 9 months...this would be the beginning of the MANY gifts/toys/treasures that would fill the back of our vehicle for the ride home!

Then it was back to my MIL & FIL's for a good nights rest...of course I couldn't sleep, thinking about my LOOOONG day on Friday, my !!!!!

Fri. 7/15, Happy Birthday to Me!
We had an 11 am flight from New Orleans to Las Vegas, just me & my dh. This was a business trip, with a little pleasure on the side. I was pleased to see a Nun seated on the second row of our plane, and a pilot sitting behind me! Made me feel a little bit safer! Our flight went very well, except for the turbulence on the descent into Vegas, due to the unbelievable HEAT!

We landed and caught up with the rest of our group who flew in from AR. The cab line was terribly long, so we hitched a ride in a town car with some friends of ours.

Check in at MGM Grand wasn't bad. We had a nice room on the 4th floor. Not much of a view, but we weren't in there very much. The rooms were recently updated & the decor was modern. I would rate the hotel at 4 stars. It was filled to capacity due to the championship boxing match on Sat. night. The hotel desk reported that the temp. was 120 degrees! Very Hot....I don't want to hear anyone say, "But it's a dry heat !" When it gets to 120, it doesn't matter what kind of heat it is. And to think, I forgot my sunscreen. Walgreens, here I come!

We went to our room to change for the night. We attended a party for Jermain Taylor (the contender for the fight) at the Centrifuge lounge. Dh & I were on TV at home in AR! We were standing on the landing in the club where he made his 15 second appearance, we received some calls on dh's cell phone from some friends saying they saw us!

After the party, we caught a cab to Paris hotel. We had dinner reservations at Le Eiffel at 6:30 (8:30 CST)...the time change was tough, we were all starving! I don't eat very well on travel days...too many butterflies! ***Note to Cheryl: Make reservations here!!! This is probably the BEST dinner I have ever had. And I have eaten at many, many restaurants. Lots of vegetarian choices. Let me back up. The Paris hotel is lovely. The casino area is very pretty too. I loved the gorgeous chandeliers at the check in area. You take an elevator up to the 11th (I think?) floor. When you exit the elevator, you are standing in front of an open kitchen, separated by a counter/half wall, of course. Everyone in the kitchen looks so happy & cute in their uniforms, hats & all! You get a quick glimpse of a few dishes when you pass by. Then you are escorted to the dining area, the view is amazing! Your are overlooking the Bellagio's dancing water fountains! And the strip & other hotels...honestly though, I couldn't keep my eyes off of the Bellagio!

Our party of 10 was seated at a large round table, 6 people were seated in booth type seating & the other 4 in chairs...it was very cozy. The table was located close to the window, & all we had to do was stand up to see the Bellagio fountains. I highly recommend watching the fountains from the Eiffel Tower.

First, we ordered drinks. Some ordered mixed drinks, the rest of us had wine. I had a single glass of a French Red, I can't remember the name...especially after having the Cakebread Cabernet Savignon ...now this wine is too die for. And I don't really care for Cab. I am more of a Merlot person. This was simply awesome! We killed about 4-5 bottles of that.

Appetizers were the Seafood Towers. They were just like the ones at Smith & Wollensky's for those of you who have eaten there. We ordered a total of 5, one for each couple to share. There was lobster (with claws), shrimp, king crab legs, raw oysters & clams, along with a "chunky" cocktail type compote . Everything was delicious, the clams were sooo sweet! The wait staff even cracked the claws for the ladies & brought the meat to us whole. Now that's the way to do it , especially for us southern belles!

Next was the soup & salad. I ordered cream of asparagus soup and my dh had a Caesar salad (he's REAL adventurous ). My soup was spectacular, served at the perfect temperature, so as not to burn you. I really can't say enough about how wonderful it was. If I would've been at home, the bowl would have been licked clean ! Dh said his salad was good, I didn't want to try it...didn't want to ruin the flavor in my mouth.

For our entree's we ordered meat (sorry Cheryl). They did have some vegetarian choices, but I had the veal, and dh had the filet. My veal was better than any steak could ever claim to be. It was chargrilled & served with English peas and carmelized pearl onions...those onions were awesome! The veal was fork tender & melted in your mouth. The filet was served with dh's choice of bearnaise sauce, upon my recommendation, which he thanked me for. Dh said it was better than Ruth's Chris. I tasted & agreed. We ordered sides of au gratin potatoes and Pommes Anna, which is sliced potatoes cooked in duck fat...they were yummy! Everyone at the table raved over their choices, and everything looked wonderful.

For dessert we all had souffle'. This has to be ordered when you order your appetizers, because they take about 50 minutes to prepare, according to our waiter. I had the Grand Marnier souffle and dh had the banana one. Someone else had a chocolate one, and it looked delicious. Mine & dh's were very good...cooked to perfection. Next time (if I ever get the chance) I will have the chocolate. For those who like banana, it was unbelievable, just enough flavor to keep you eating more & more.

Overall, the meal was superb . I would definetly rate it at 5 stars, as would my dh. Everything was cooked to perfection, and the portion sizes were just right, you were able to eat everything (leaving a couple of bites, of course) without making yourself sick, which made for a very nice & enjoyable meal.

We all staggered out of the restaurant hoping to eat (& drink ) here again! And for all of my Louisianians, the food was better than Commander's Palace! We exited the restaurant at about 8:45 (10:45 CST) and I'm getting tired! I had set the alarm this morning at 6:30 am CST. But the night was young and we had tickets for the 10:30 Cirque de Soleil "O" show. How am I ever gonna make it?.........To Be Continued...........

Are y'all tired of reading yet? Whew! I'm gonna take a break to bring Magic back to the vet at 4pm. We noticed a swollen area on her side that feels like a mass/nodule beneath the skin...did I mention she's in heat too? Yes, I came home to a puppy (9 months old) in heat and the other (Boudin is 14 weeks old) has forgotten all of his house training! Arrgh... I'll try to update tomorrow! Au Revoir!

[chezp]

Thank you so much for starting this report so quickly - you've made my evening!

I'm just sitting here dribbling at your description of dinner - it sounds absolutely superb. Needless to say I've already logged on to the Paris hotel website to find out the number for making reservations for the restaurant. It's just as well you gave such a superb description of dinner, as their website doesn't say a great deal.

Please hurry back - I can't wait to hear all about "O".

[LSUtigerfan]

Cheryl, and anyone else who may be interested...here is a link for their menu: Eiffel Tower restaurant menu Can't wait to go back!!! My BIL, who has travelled all around the US and Paris & London on business, also says it's one of the best meals he's ever had too. Try it, I promise you will not be sorry. It's worth every penny. Actually, it is cheaper than some of the restaurants at MGM...and I honestly can't imagine any food being better than their's. I wish I had tried some scallops while I was there.

[chezp]

Thank you so much for the link!

[KrisLuvsDisney]

My mouth is so watering! I wish we had tried that while we were there...oh well, it will be a have to next year! I agree with you about the heat (we were there a couple of days after you) and it was killer.

More please! for Magic!

[Cam22]

Great report! Can't wait for more! Dinner sounded so yummy that I know what I'm cooking for our supper will just not compare now!

[DawnDenise]

Awesome report!!! What a time so far!! Your meal sounds absolutely yummy!!! I'll have to remember the restaurant when we plan our next trip to Vegas. Looking forward to the next installment!

[iamgrumpy]

Great report sounds like fun so far!

Amy

[LSUtigerfan]

Hi, everyone. Sorry it's taken me soooooo loooooong to complete this TR. Here are my excuses: ..........Had company from out of town (who wanted me to help her plan her November WDW vacation, so how could I resist?), starting a new job as my dd's school nurse (had lots of things to do @ the school).

Now that I have a little bit of time, I'm going to try to finish this TR.

Sat. July 16th
We woke up around 9am, hurried to get dressed for breakfast. I wanted to try the MGM Grand's buffet, which was actually a brunch after 10 am. We arrived at about 10:15 and waited in a moderate sized line, for about 10-15 minutes before we were seated.

The buffet was enormous. There were several different sections/stations to the buffet. Of course they had regular b'fast fare: scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, biscuits, hot cereals (even grits! ), fresh fruit , danishes, pancakes, Belgian waffles, etc. They also had different salads (southwestern chicken or shrimp salad, caesar salad, green salad, etc.), omelet station, Belgian waffles (with various compotes &amp; fresh whipped cream, the real stuff! ), carved meat station, lasagna (vegetable &amp; traditional), and my personal favorite....a complete dessert bar! The dessert bar was loaded with many yummy things. It had key lime tarts, white chocolate mousse with fresh raspberries, tiramisu, croissants filled with fruit ( <font color="blue">blueberry was my favorite! </font>), several different pies (regular &amp; sugar free), cherry and peach cobbler (the peach had a cinnamon crumble topping like a Dutch apple pie!), and various other pastries/sweets (your typical eclairs, cream puffs, brownies, etc.) I ranked the desserts in descending order! Everything was so good, esp. the first four.....I ate tons of mousse.....only on vacation can you eat mousse for breakfast every morning. The Belgian waffles were really great too, I put the strawberry compote on mine, with tons of the whipped cream, it tasted like strawberry shortcake (sort of). Everything was delicious, and we decided we would eat here again tomorrow.

As we exited the restaurant area, we saw how long the line was.... Boy, were we glad we came down when we did! Those people looked like they had about a 45 min.-1 hour wait! It was around 11:30, so I guess the early bird does get the worm in Vegas.

We decided to go casino browsing today, so we exited the hotel near the main entrance. The cab line was so long, we decided to walk, since I heard Walgreen's was practically next door to MGM. I needed to burn a picture disk and get sunscreen. Well, we didn't think about MGM being the largest hotel...it was quite a trek in the sun to get to Walgreens, which was right next to MGM. We should've walked through the hotel casino to the entrance/exit on the other side of the hotel! It would've been a nice air conditioned walk, and my shoulders wouldn't have gotten <font color="red"> sunburned! </font> It wasn't a bad sunburn, but that sun was really fierce! Walgreens was jam packed with people buying water. If anyone needs to do the photo disk thing, this Walgreens has a 24 hour photo dept.

Next, we walked to the M&amp;M store. It was so cute! They really had lots of cute things in there. I bought my dd's some souveniers (love those <font color="yellow"> bright yellow bags </font>) and I couldn't resist getting some <font color="purple"> Purple </font> &amp; <font color="yellow"> Gold </font> M&amp;M's (for LSU) and some other ones in my dd's favorite colors. They also had dark chocolate M&amp;M's for my oldest dd! They were expensive though, like $7 per pound, or something!

We strolled down the strip, ducking in &amp; out of different shops to get out of the sun. I had my picture taken with "Elvis" outside some scooter rental type place. He was hilarious, and played his part well. That was fun, and something I wanted to do while I was here. (My dh doesn't like Elvis, and we unintentionally got married on Elvis' b-day, so I love to rub the whole Elvis thing in his face! ) He eats it up though.

We went to the Mirage (which I love), bought my youngest dd a dophin purse. Then we went to Caesar's which is my absolute favorite! I just love it in there. We made our way over to the Forum shops, it was very crowded, but we did lots of browsing, saw lots of over priced things &amp; many under-dressed people (of all ages). My dh really enjoyed going in the area where they sell cars. They had Astin Martin's, Ferrari's, a Lambourghini, a Bentley, etc. They also had some chopper type motorcycles. Very nice! There were many men drooling over those cars and taking pictures.

We realized the day was going by quickly, and we needed to get dressed for the fight this evening. My dh wanted to be there to see a few of the pre-fights. So, we took a cab back to the MGM (~$7). We went up to the room &amp; showered &amp; changed for the night. We walked through the area in the back of MGM (I think it might be called Citiwalk, can't remember) anyway, there are many different restaurants, and we decided on Emeril's Fish House. They had an area for immediate seating where the tables were a lot closer together, not so intimate, but we were hungry, and actually, we enjoyed our table. We were seated next to a glass wall which overlooked the "CitiWalk" area, so we were able to "people watch" during our meal....we saw MANY sights! I ordered Cream of Artichoke soup, Pecan Crusted Redfish with grilled vegetables (like zucchini, squash, eggplant, tomatoes), served on top of crispy shoestring potatoes....oh and topped with a meuniere sauce! (mine was the BEST!!!) Dh had grilled &amp; roasted double cut pork chop with carmelized sweet potatoes &amp; I'm not sure what else...oh yeah, he had some seafood gumbo too. For dessert we shared a piece of Banana cream pie topped with chocolate shavings &amp; caramel sauce! Superb!!!!! Our dinner was very good, but compared to last night's I'd rate it at 4.25 stars. It was VERY, VERY good but not "5 star good." My fish was really, really good. Dh even admitted that it was better than his entree. He didn't think the gumbo was "all that" either. The pie sure was yummy though...not overpowering with the banana, and the caramel was a nice finishing touch.

We paid our bill and made our way over to the fight. We found our seats (with the rest of our group of customers &amp; co-workers). We watched a couple of the pre fights, then the Jermain Taylor/Bernard Hopkins fight was up. Jermain Taylor won the fight by decision, so he became the undisputed middleweight champion of the world. We were excited because that's who we were there to see. (Some of my friends told me just last night, that dh &amp; I were on the front page of the sports section in the Ark. Democrat Gazette paper on the morning of the fight...I've gotta get a copy!)

After the fight, we met up with our friends, and went to the Venetian to ride the gondola. We took the monorail from MGM to the Venetian area of the strip. The Venetian is really pretty, esp. the ceilings. The artwork in there is gorgeous. The gondola rides were all sold out for the rest of the night, and we were bummed out. So, we just stopped for coffee and dessert in the Venetian, it was at a Coffee Bean, or something like that. I had chocolate mousse cake (kind of dry), and dh had Oreo cheesecake (didn't care much for his either), &amp; our friends had a cookie &amp; ice cream. We just walked around a little then decided to make our way back to MGM via cab. It was late and we wanted to get an early b'fast in the morning before we had to check out.


Sunday, July 17

We woke up early (~8:30) to pack and get dressed. We met our friends at the MGM brunch buffet, with virtually no wait, which was nice. It was before 10am, but they started to bring the "brunch" items out at 10. Today they added a Mexican section. I had some pulled pork &amp; guacamole off of that bar. The pork was good, but I've had much better guac. My main meal this morning consisted of the first four desserts listed before (esp. that mousse!) along with lasagna &amp; belgian waffles (2 of them, they're small!!!). We were stuffed.

Our friends wanted to go to Mandalay Bay to see the Shark Reef. We decided to walk....wrong decision. It was so HOT!!! Mandalay Bay was really pretty. I would definetly like to stay here. The pool looks really nice. It has a wave pool, lazy river, and cabanas for rent. The Shark Reef was overpriced, and not as good as the Aquarium of the Americas in New Orleans. I think there are much better things to do in Vegas that are free. I enjoyed walking around the different casinos &amp; shops more than that. I would not recommend going to the Shark Reef unless you just really had your heart set on seeing some fish while in the desert. I've done a tour of Lake Mead and enjoyed that more.

After our Shark Reef excursion it was time for us to head to the airport. So we hopped in a cab after getting our luggage from guest services and rode to the airport. The air conditioner in the airport was broken and it was 117 degrees outside (and that was only at 1pm!). It was ridiculously hot in there....and VERY CROWDED! Apparently, there were several delayed flights, so there were people sitting on the floor everywhere. Our flight was only delayed by ~30 minutes or so, which wasn't that bad.

One funny thing that happened was, another flight came in and about 30-40 Jessica Simpson wannabe's exited the plane (it was the flight that everyone was waiting on for over an hour). I'm sure these girls made their parents really proud, if you know what I mean, they all looked ridiculous. Half dressed, maybe even quarter dressed, tons of plastic surgery, people were yelling comments everywhere, like "Yeah, I heard they had a big furniture convention, this must be their entertainment"....and "We see why that plane was late" etc. But, the clencher was when one of the girls came bee-bopping off of the plane and her tube top was almost down to her waist on one side...with NO undergarments on underneath The whole airport was yelling "Hey Janet Jackson!" and she didn't even notice ( Or did she?) for quite some time. She must have walked about 20 yards before she realized what happened. It was kind of sad, of course I couldn't help but laugh, but like I said, it was sad, she didn't really look too embarassed either.

We had an uneventful flight home and drive to my MIL's house. The rest of my trip consisted of visiting family in Baton Rouge for three days. My new baby nephew is so cute &amp; fat. Then we spent many days shopping on the Northshore &amp; in New Orleans for altar items and Holy Communion dresses (even though it's not the season). I had some really neat finds and we had fun. I also got to eat one of my favorite dishes, Eggplant Pirogue while I was there. It's paneed eggplant served over angel hair pasta with a crawfish cream sauce... We also had plenty of fried catfish &amp; shrimp while we were there. I gained about 5 pounds I'm sure!

At the end of our stay we drove back to Little Rock and were quickly back to the real world! Laundry, Laundry, Laundry.

Oh, one thing I forgot to mention about the heat in Vegas, I had on a cute pair of leather bottomed flip flop type shoes and the black asphalt melted onto the bottom of them!!!

Well, thanks everyone for reading my TR. Sorry it took me so long to complete it. Hopefully, I won't have as much trouble typing our WDW one in Sept. Not sure though, since I'm going back to work, we'll see. Dh just called me to tell me that we're going to San Francisco in October too! A four day trip! Hope I can get off of work....keeping my fingers crossed!

[chezp]

Oh my goodness – how did I manage to miss your earlier installment – I’m just catching up now!

The Bellagio sounds breathtaking – you’re not helping me with my decision on whether to stay there or at the Venetian you know! And “O” sounds out of this world. I can’t wait to see it!

Oh and by the way – we’ve already got our tickets for Alegria when it comes to London in January. I can’t wait to see it!

I can’t believe how hot it was while you were there! I’d heard stories, but reading your report really put it in perspective!

Thank you so much for writing this report and putting so much detail in – particularly about the resorts and the restaurants, two things very close to my heart. It’s helped enormously with my planning – and I hope you’ll do another trip report about San Francisco, as we’re hoping to head there as well in the spring.

[GoofyMom]

Sounds like you had a pretty fun trip! Thanks for finishing up your TR!

[iamgrumpy]

Sounds like a great trip! My grandma and I did 3 days in Vegas October of and the sights and the bellagio were unbelievable. we didn't gamble much but it was fun to walk the strip and look at it all!

Amy

[Colexis Mom]

More great updates Glad you enjoyed O, I've heard great things about it

More please