Las Vegas C'est Magnifique

Beneath a 50-story replica of the Eiffel Tower, guests began registering Wednesday night at Las Vegas' latest effort to go global, reports CBS affiliate KLAS-TV.

Invited guests began checking into the 2,900 room Paris Las Vegas Hotel and Casino and checking out copies of the Arc de Triomphe and Louvre.

Guests invited to the opening night party included French entertainers Catherine Deneuve, Line Renaud, Michel Legrand and Charles Aznavour.

Some 4,000 people attending a black-tie gala got their first look at the new property Wednesday night, walking down cobblestone streets and checking out the resort's shops and restaurants.
The evening's festivities wrapped up with a concert conducted by Legrand and the lighting of the Eiffel Tower at the same time the lights were turned off for the night on the real Eiffel Tower in Paris.

Paul Pusateri, Paris Las Vegas president, said he was elated that the opening went so smoothly.

Nevada Governor Kenny Guinn called the new resort "magnificent.''

The French-themed resort is just the latest in Las Vegas to replicate famous places.

The past decade has seen the opening of the Caribbean-flavored Mirage, the medieval Excalibur, the pyramid-shaped Luxor, Hollywood's MGM Grand, pirate-themed Treasure Island, Mediterranean-styled Monte Carlo, Gotham knockoff New York-New York, Brazilian-cloned Rio, Italian-themed Bellagio, South Seas-styled Mandalay Bay, and a touch of Venice in the Venetian.

Paris hotel engineers obtained the Eiffel Tower's original architectural plans and followed them in minute detail, even bringing back paint chips to replicate the color.

There's a 225-seat gourmet French restaurant on the 11th floor of the tower, and an observation deck atop the 542-foot structure. Three of the four legs rise from inside an 85,000-square-foot casino that offers the aura of a Paris park setting.

The Eiffel Tower is not the only French icon copied at Paris Las Vegas.

Guests arrive on a circular drive featuring a two-thirds replica of the Arc de Triomphe. There are also copies of the Paris Opera House and the Louvre. And the 34-story hotel replicates the 800-year-old Hotel de Ville, which is now the Paris City Hall.

Room rates will run $125 to $230.