After leaving the Bellagio the day before last we worked our way steadily down the strip, stopping off at New York-New York, MGM Grand and Luxor on the way. Everything in Las Vegas is big and brash and a little bit crazy: cards for call girls litter the streets, it rains inside the Miracle Mile shopping mall every half hour from painted clouds and people order margaritas by the yard, rather than by the glass. It was also 45 degrees celsius and so hot that we seriously feared bursting in flames whenever we left the shade. The heat may be why so many people in Vegas are nocturnal; when we left our hotel yesterday at ridiculous o'clock (6am) for our coach trip to the Grand Canyon a surprising number of people were still sitting at the slot machines...

It's a long old drive to the Canyon, about 300 miles or several hours on the road. When we got there it was raining hailstones and so windy that Jak's glasses were ripped off his face and sent tumbling down the hillside before he could react. Apparently around 10 people a year fall off and it was bloody slippery so I was slightly nervous we would be next. Thankfully the weather cleared slightly to reveal an absolutely breathtaking view - 'even better than Niagara' according to Jak, although I think I just about prefer the Falls.

Today we had a lie in then filled up on a mediocre but cheap buffet lunch at our hotel ($7.99 including drinks and dessert). We spent the next couple of hours gambling and came out with a grand return of 7 cents. We have yet to cash in the winnings slip. We only spent $6 during the entire couple of hours and ended up with free cocktails, beer etc so I think we can let the 7 cents slide.

It's 4th July today so there's a lot of people walking around in red, white and blue and the whole place is ridiculously busy. Apparently there'll be several firework shows tonight whoop! Not sure if it's a bit naive to think we'll be able to see them from the Eiffel Tower in the Paris hotel but we're going to attempt it...