Viva Las Vegas!

Las Vegas. Sin City. Our journey from Memphis to Vegas also becomes the redemption of American Airlines via the lovely Kaitlin; a flight attendant who went beyond with her kindness and compassion towards Jan (plus a free merlot for Melissa ;).

Melissa fortuitously is seated next to Jesus, a sports commentator, who points out the expansive Lake Mead and The Grand Canyon from the air. Melissa is relieved this is the closest to a religious experience Vegas has to offer (religious protestors aside).

The sensory overload begins the minute we disembark and enter the Vegas terminal. Poker machines. The bright lights and sound hit you as soon as your feet touch Nevada soil. Then the heat does. High 20's. Like Melbourne in December.

We find our way (never easy - unfamiliar and short staffed airports) to a taxi and are transferred to our hotel, The Paris, Vegas. A french themed mini city - ostentatiously (and tackily) by decor and design, combined with the behemoth casino lobby.

It's an overwhelming sensory experience. The people. The noise. The lights. The cigarette and marijuana smoke. It's everywhere. The entire lobby of our hotel is one giant casino. And smoking is permitted everywhere in the casino and most of Vegas #vegasrules.

We have never seen so many people at one time in a city. It is then we are informed, we have arrived late Friday afternoon before a long weekend. National U.S.A public holiday - Memorial day. Respectful to acknowledge the importance of this day in the United States - a day of reflection and appreciation for war veterans.

#Vegasbaby is on the minds of every American for a long weekend. 400,000 visitors we are told over that weekend? We don't know what Vegas is like anytime.

Vegas. You are a little too much. Our three days visiting included an admission for Allan AND Jan to urgent care, Melissa trecking close to 18km on foot on Vegas Blvd in search of open pharmacies and a spectacular helicopter flight over the Hoover Dam, Lake Mead, the Colorado river and landing in the Grand Canyon itself. More on our Vegas adventures to come.En savoir plus