The Vegas Strip, which packs scores of hotels over a loooong stretch of road, teems with international visitors, fast walkers, distracting billboards and street hawkers.
The real Paris is historically centered and architecturally stunning, teeming with haute-coutured native women fashionably dressed and fashionably late. Which explains why the French walk very fast. They have to make at least 12 café stops (with their dogs) before 4 p.m.!
Visiting Vegas to get a French fix is easier than you might think. Parisian influences can be found in nearly every attraction, hotel, spa and restaurant. Let’s start with the obvious: the Paris Las Vegas Hotel. Yes, it’s kitschy-cute, with its faux cobble-stoned floors (bad for heels), halls and walkways, with various French street signs pointing the way to famed attractions of its progenitor.
The main floor is a dazzling sight, with French-named shops, creperies and sweet shops galore. The one Paris thing I sort of missed was the dog-less windows in store fronts. Dogs are perfectly welcome in cafes and many owners of shops bring Maggie or Travis to plop in the window.
On second thought, it’s a good thing that’s not encouraged. I have nothing against most canines, but I don’t like eating near them. Although the French don’t mind. Different strokes.
Explore this hotel for a scaled-down Eiffel Tower which has a restaurant across from the Bellagio, which is perfect for water-show watching across the rue. The hotel rooms may need some updating (our shower door had a spillage issue) and finding other people’s socks in a drawer is not a great housekeeping sign. Still, it does provide a French experience—nearly every adult seemed to be smoking. Oh, those faux French!
So, if I had my druthers and a hefty bank account to play with, I’d stay at the French-influenced Wynn Hotel, which has an understated elegance augmented by golden/brown tones. With its exotic orchids in huge rows of tall vases, and plus-perfect service, this hotel hints of the classic Georges V in Paris. And the several French restaurants and shops will give you reason to linger.
The restaurant Alex offers a subtle blend of French/Italian cuisine, from fish to beef and the de rigeur cheese course. Don’t get me started with those French desserts. Well, maybe just one truffle, dark please.
Here’s a menu sampling: seared sea scallop with tomato confit, seared foie gras (I know, I know), chanterelles and roasted pear with ginger snaps. Each course is accompanied by devoted wait staff who will refold your napkin if you need to take a break. Because you need endurance to prepare for the cheese course. Bon appetit!
If you’re a foodie, prepare to be impressed by the Alex Restaurant and the hotel overall. This is a classic destination, reflected throughout public spaces and private rooms.
Executive Pastry Chef Frederic Robert described in fractured English (better than my fractured French) his artful baking methods and devotion to creating the highest quality of chocolate. This world-famous desert dessert genius, a pleasure to interview, proudly showed off his confectionary prowess at the Sugar & Ice sweet shop at Wynn.