De Automne2010

Little automn hike through the wood near our house… It was a warm day outside, with gorgeous light.
(Side note: the crochet vest Orly is wearing in the pics was made by her great-grandmother — my father’s mother. She probably made it in the 70′s, for one of her grandchildren. I’m happy Orléane can wear it today…)

Oh, and on the way home, we made a new friend.

Thursday and Friday, we continued visiting hotels, I tried the slot machines and Frank adopted Black Jack. We went toward the South to visit the Excalibur, Luxor and Mandalay Bay.

We have also walked to the famous sign “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada”! Frank insisted. A classic.

By the way, we adored the MGM Grand, our hotel, and our great room on the 27th floor. Recommended!

Mon Thursday night, we had dinner at Hard Rock Cafe. Another classic for us, when we visit a city where there is a HRC. Frank collects their Pilsner glasses — so far, we have Boston, New York, Toronto and Las Vegas. I got a delicious cocktail with pineaple juice.

In the evening, it was the KA show of Cirque du Soleil. Excellent, excellent and magic! No picture, of course, but here is the trailer video:

On Friday, we visited Caesar’s Palace, the Forum Shops and Treasure Island.

Do you watch Big Bang Theory? Penny, in the TV show, is waitress at the Cheesecake Factory. We had lunch there! Of course, I had to have dessert…

By the way, there are aquariums everywhere in Las Vegas. Reaction to the desert all around?

While we’re on the subject of water, we dropped by the hotel pool a couple of times. In fact, there are many pools at the MGM Grand. The one we liked best was a river-pool a quarter mile long — not really deep… 3-4 feet — where we were pulled along by the current — and the happy mood of the swimmer!…

That night, we rushed to climb up the Stratosphere before sunset. There were people bungee jumping from the tower, what a thrill!

Next, we headed to Fremont Street to party. I’ve never been to Louisiana, but Fremont Street is like what I imagine Mardi Gras would be. Everywhere on the Strip, there are bars selling 32oz alcoholised slushie drinks, that people can bring back to have refilled for cheap. At Fremont Street, people drink and dance in the street, enter and walk out of the casinos and stop by the music show on the 2 outdoor scenes. Every hour (or half-hour?), all the casinos turn off their neons for 5-10 minutes, and the giant screens which cover the street are animated with videoclip-like animations, with rock music. It’s giant. (We stayed up late that night, hehe…)

On the Saturday, after our check out at the hotel, we simply walked around. Frank played some more Black Jack, I did some shopping; we finally headed for the airport and got home many, many hours later… to warm hugs from our kiddos, which we were really happy to see, haha!

PS. As usual, many more photos in the album Las Vegas 2010 on Picasaweb.

We took 520 pictures on the day of our visit to the Grand Canyon. The day was long — left at 6:15am, came back at 8:30pm — but we are really glad we took the time to go see this wonder of nature.

The lookout points where we went are inside an indian reserve. So it was the Hupalai indians who received tourists over there. Between the company that organized the trip, the indians and the shuttles which took us to the different lookout points, we rode 8-9 buses throughout the day. Some comfortable, others less so, and a few soaked of dust on the dry desert roads.

No matter, the view was worth it. First there was the Hoover Dam, on our way to the Grand Canyon:

Then Eagle Point, where an eagle with wings extended passes “through” the Grand Canyon:

Then Guano point — where an old guano (bat poo) “mine” was installed — which gave us an exceptional view.

Next, our hosts treated us to a BBQ lunch… delicious! (Especially at 2:30pm!)

Finally, we went back the way we came, again through the faboulus Joshua tree forest… and the sunset.

PS. Full photos and more in our Picasaweb album Las Vegas 2010, including houses established in the desert, etc.

Tuesday: second day in Las Vegas. At our window, sunrise is shining on the golden hotels out front.

Breakfast at La Salsa Cantina, mexican fare place. On the menu, 2 eggs with bacon for 4$ with Bloody Mary’s (oh yes! our morning buzz…) for 99 cents! Next, we continue exploring around — M&Ms store, casinos Planet Hollywood, Harrah’s, Flamingos, etc. it was hot that day… We alternated between the heat of Nevada and the A/C of casinos.

Did I mention I left Frank and found myself a new beau?

It was the first time we visited one of Mme Tussaud’s wax museums. It was nice; the statues are quite realistic, and it was fun for taking silly pictures. Although at 25$/person, once will be enough.

The Venetian was very well designed and decorated. A mini-visit to Venise!

Next, a visit to the Imperial Palace (which smells odd, haha!) to see their vast collection of classic cars.

Then, we slowly came back to our hotel — with sore feet — and, after a little break, we went down to the casino on the ground floor for a little dinner and to try our luck at the games. Frank played craps for the first time: he started with 50$, won a couple dozens then lost all in a few minutes, hehe. I got a little lucky with the slot machines, so we won back 10$ after a few fluctuations.

Oh, and after that, we went to see David Copperfield’s show! I’m not sure how to rate the show. Copperfield is a great illusionist. He did many neat tricks, including vanishing some people, teleporting a duck, animating a tie and even making a car appear! The illusions were very nice. A couple of bad points on the show, though:
- First, we saw trailers for the show, where you see him flying, cutting himself in halves and moving around, etc. He doesn’t do any of that stuff in the show, and the previews had us setting our expectations way too high.
- Another thing that sets expectations really high: while we’re waiting for the show to start, a screen is looping with all the great awards, records and titles Copperfield has won, then an introduction video is played which places him high up at the top of his profession.
- He uses people from the audience extensively. This is good, in a way, except that most of these “audience members” seemed rather bored with the tricks he performed, which makes us wonder if they’re excited at all to be there, or hired actors — and bad actors, at that!
- David Copperfield himself is, well… he came off as a little cocky, to me, telling us when to applaud, talking about great things he has done, poking fun at audience members and requesting kisses from female volunteers.

So I guess what I’m saying is: good show, Copperfield is great, but DON’T set your expectations too high, either. (Sorry, Ge, if I’m raining a little bit on your favourite magician, here.)

Today Wednesday, we went to Arizona to see the Grand Canyon! I have the pics in box, I’ll put them online when I have some time… For now, we’ll catch up on sleep. Many more things to see tomorrow!

PS. More photos in our Picasaweb album Las Vegas 2010.

Hi all, here we are “live” from Las Vegas! (We’re taking a small break, we’ve been walking for 2 days non-stop…)

Yesterday was our first travel day. We slept at my sister Karine’s place and left for the airport early (4am!). Many hours later — and a few luggages short… but it’s alright, they delivered them to our hotel in the evening — we arrived at the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino, where we are staying for 5 nights.

The room is really nice. We are at the 27th floor, view on the Strip — no, not porn… it’s the common name for the Las Vegas boulevard where all the hotels are at.

“Dinner” at the Rainforest Cafe — it’s 4pm here, but it’s 7pm for us with the timezone difference. Lightning and thunder show in the restaurant and moving animals… Guacamole burger for me, coconut shrimp for Frank.

Stroll through a few hotels afterwards. The New York, New York in front of our hotel, and many others including the Bellagio.

The Bellagio lobby ceiling is made up of glass jelly fishes… beautiful!

A little before sunset (at 6:30pm here), we went in the “Paris”.

We went up to the Eiffel tower observation deck. Superb view of sunset.

(PS. Thanks to our friend Nicolas for loaning his Wide Angle lens… it’s doing a great job!)

Every half hour, the Bellagio, just out front, has a show of fountains, with music and lights. It lasts a few minutes; it was the Titanic movie’s music (without lyrics) when we saw it — still at the Eiffel tower observation deck.

Back at the hotel, then. Our luggage is back, and sleep at 10pm — but it’s 1am for us (a 27hrs day!) and we woke up many, many hours ago!

Today Tuesday, we did a bunch of other fun stuff… but that will wait for another post later. For now, our little break is over, and we will go try the casino a little. David Copperfield tonight (w00t!) and Grand Canyon tomorrow. We’ll be back with news when we have some time again! Ciao.

PS. Oh hey, as usual, many more pictures in our Picasa albums: Las Vegas 2010

[Little update: oops, I skipped relating the rest of our vacation, I see... We had a nice second week of vacation in August. A day at the Mauricie National Park (beach, stroll and canoe with the kids), a Marco Caliari concert, a day at our friend's, a day at the Grand Prix for Frank, an outing at the Old Mill, etc., filled the rest of our vacation days. A few photos are in our Summer album.

Since, our weeks and weekends have fallen back into their routine and usual activities (kids birthday parties, game nights, family gatherings...) and Fall is coming in slowly.]

Today, we went apple picking! As it is becoming tradition now, we went to the Verger de Nicolet, with the St-Louis family. The kids like this outing a lot, as it consists of running in the orchard, climbing ladders and munching on small red apples.

We thought to box them…

…but oh well, we ended up keeping them with us and, at Ge’s suggestion, went to a walkway (wetland near the St. Lawrence river in Nicolet). It was the first time we visited this beautiful place. A good recommendation! The weather was great, full of sun, and the kids got to burn a lot of energy.

The full (single) pictures are in our Summer album (yes, it’s still officially Summer 2010!), toward the end. Superb light and 1.4 lens = I love it!