We return to Vegas via WalMart in Henderson, then get a taxi to Mandalay Bay to enjoy a wonderful performance of Mamma Mia! The monorail then takes us to Excalibur where we eat at the crowded and noisy King Arthur's Buffet - the meal including a glass of champagne. Our day ends viewing the spectacular fountains performing at The Bellagio.

 

 

We begin our 40th Wedding Anniversary by opening the cards that we have brought with us as we have breakfast in our room. To celebrate the day, we have planned two events: a helicopter ride to the Grand Canyon and a performance by Celine Dion at Caesar's Palace. But before these events we walk to The Venetian, then ascend the Eiffel Tower at Paris.

The long walk in the hot sunshine to The Venetian is rewarded by its architecture that encapsulates the best of one of our favourite cities. There is a very long queue for gondola rides so we retrace our steps to Paris. The Eiffel Tower is a superb location to view much of the Las Vegas extravagant architecture, but particularly to view the fountains of The Bellagio.

 

 

 

After returning to our room for coffee, we descend to the hotel's ground floor to await our pick-up by Papillion Helicopters. We have a long wait due to a previous booking not showing, before the taxi takes us to the airport.

The half-hour flight to the Grand Canyon initially gives us views of the casinos, then we go over Lake Las Vegas (an upmarket development where Celine Dion is staying) before views of the Hoover Dam and the canyon appear.

The helicopter descends into the canyon and lands near the Colorado River. Our three previous trips to the Grand Canyon have been to the tourist-related South Rim (twice) and the quieter North Rim. On each of those occasions we stayed on the rim of the canyon, a mile above the Colorado River. Today, we are not only on the bottom of the canyon, we will be taking a short cruise on the Colorado itself.