Silk Road Trip grinds to a halt

My timing could not have been any better if I tried. Moto Naranja arrived in Paris two days before France closed all the pubs, restaurants, cafes and any other public meeting place. Surely not the pubs!!

I had been given an address at Charles de Gaulle airport, Paris, cargo terminal where I could pick up my bike but this proved to be a closed training facility for cargo handlers. After spending over an hour walking around in ever diminishing, frustrating circles a terminal worker asked if mine was the orange bike he had seen that morning somewhere over in the export side of the terminal. That is where it proved to be, but funny because I was pretty sure I was meant to be importing it.
 Once I got all the paperwork there was just one more tiny step -- Customs / Douanes, just the name was enough to strike fear into my skinny little knees. This building was standard government issue with buckled, yellowing ceiling tiles and fluorescent lights with the obligatory buzz - I feared the worst !!

Surprise !!  They were all very pleasant and helpful and 45 minutes later I walked out of there with a wad of papers all bearing an official looking stamp.

Determined to carry on even though my adventure was looking more than I had bargained for, I climbed on my trusty steed in a steady rain and headed south with the hope of finding more pleasant weather. Two days later the weather was indeed a little warmer with clear blue skies and I had spent a magical time meandering along many backroads through the French countryside with quaint stone villages, cattle in the fields and a singing heart. There were castles and chateaus scattered throughout the countryside. 

Getting towards mid afternoon on the second day I decided to stop in the village of Die ( an unfortunate name in the time of corona ) and after finding that no campsites were open for another month a settled in to the Hôtel des Alpes in the center of this beautiful village which has stood in the valley since Roman times.
After finding something to eat and a beer from a small grocery store I checked the news -- France was going to prohibit all travel and close its border for 15 days -- starting tomorrow!! Now that is definitely a little more concerning than closed pubs
So here I stay for the next two weeks in a beautiful French village still with the stone walls built in the 2nd century, a comfortable hotel with breakfast, magnificent views out of my window and a chance to learn more French than just Bonjour.

View from my room