NEWARK – Prosecutors in the federal corruption trial of Sen. Bob Menendez once again gave jurors a virtual vacation Tuesday morning, showing pictures of the luxury Paris hotel where the senator stayed at the expense of his co-defendant, Dr. Salomon Melgen.

On the stand was Hyatt’s senior VP of Global Operations Francis Labey, who provided narration for photos of the Park Hyatt Paris-Vendome, where Menendez spent three nights in the park executive suite in April 2010. Jurors saw photos of the hotel front entrance glowing in the night from outdoor lighting and golden door trim, and of the spacious suite connecting to a vanity and bath inside a place Labey had said is “amongst the best hotels in the world.”

In an apparent effort to chip away at some of the glitz, Menendez dedense attorney Abbe Lowell had Labey reveal the truth about some of the elegant accomodations under cross examination. The in-room espresso maker? It uses capsules, not beans. Labey admitted. The exclusive bar in the suite? It holds soft drinks and miniature alcohol bottles. And what makes the two complimentary bathrobes “luxury?”

“They are microfiber on the exterior, cotton on the interior,” Labey said. “They’re very comfortable.”

The testimony came a day after jurors heard testimony about the amenities at two Dominican resorts where Menendez and Melgen stayed.

The nearly $5,000 hotel stay – which Melgen paid for with accrued credit card points – is allegedly one of the bribes Menendez accepted in exchange for assisting Melgen. The senator has called Melgen a close friend and denied he was influenced by Melgen’s generosity. Defining the relationship between the two men is essential to both the prosecution and defense cases.

Before jurors entered this morning, trial Judge William Walls heard arguments on how much of Melgen and Menendez’s relationship is relevant to the case.

“I’m not going to go back 30 years talking about Boy Scout activities,” Walls said.

Walls admitted the case by its nature rests to a degree on circumstantial evidence.

“In my years on the court, no one had come to me and said, ‘We have an agreement in writing to do certain things criminal,’ you know?” Walls said.

Later in the morning, jurors heard testimony from flightaware.com co-founder Karl Lehenbauer. The website tracks private and commercial flights, including those Menendez took on Melgen’s private plane to and from the Dominican Republic. Jurors heard testimony yesterday that Melgen’s son-in-law successfully put the flights on a Federal Aviation Administration block list hours after the FBI raided Melgen’s Florida offices, rendering the past and future trip history invisible to flightaware users.