I see London...I see France...I have seen way too many airports lately...

OK...this is the danger of letting me travel abroad. Here I am with lots of free time, a camera, and a new journal to tote around. The result you might ask? Ben's random thoughts about everything including this trip. Let's start out with the bad. I honestly thought about heading home from Atlanta before even making the jump across the Atlantic after everything imaginable went wrong with my flight. After nearly 24 hours and 3 international airports, I finally arrived in my hotel in Paris. Now granted, this arrival came after visiting my friends the British for a a couple of hours and a long, heated discussion with the folks at Air France and Delta about my travel plans. Regardless, I am here. A couple of quick points...1st, apparently the British are a short people. I came to this conclusion after noticing every ceiling and sign in the majority of the airport was only about 6'6" off the ground. While I ran from Concourse to Concourse, I felt as if I was in a constant state of "duck". 2nd, I came to a serious conclusion about life as we know it, a few specific things in my own life, and this trip as the general inspiration. Though you often hate the process, never give up on the result. I sat in the airport in Atlanta hating the process, wanting to go home and crawl in my warm and cozy bed and forget the rest of the traveling world. Now I am in Paris, my mind swirling, my stomach full, and my heart ready to give this city another chance. Though I still think the person who coined the thought "Half the fun is getting there" is a blooming idiot, I now know I need to be willing to suffer through the rough parts to get to the great parts in the end. This can certainly apply to a ton of different scenarios in one's life. I know I wrote extensively about it in my journal. I can think of at least one or two situations I deal with each and every week where I need to cherish the end results, whatever they may be, instead of stressing the process and the unknowns that cause so much anguish. Ponder that and see if it works for you too.

I think I mentioned my stomach being full earlier. If I haven't mentioned it before, this is a city full of phenomenal food, so much so that John and I literally walked around for more than an hour debating where to have dinner. We stumbled across some other friends and settled in at a cozy little bistro as a boysterous party of 15. What ensued was 3 + hours of great food and great conversation. I am bursting at the seams from smoked salmon, beef filet, and molten chocolate perfiterals (I am sure I am slaughtering the spelling there, but you get the idea). Add on perfectly aged Champagne and red wine and you have a night to remember.

Now, let me be honest for a few seconds more. As I mentioned before, I have been traveling a long time the last couple of days. At last count I have been going for 36 hours with very little sleep. This entry will therefore be short...and probably a little incoherent. Please forgive. I am attaching a few photos from the room and tonight. Many more to come I hope...