From a health perspective, the only main issue in the past week was some intermittent tiredness, but thankfully, not much else - and just as well, as it was a busy and key week for me! That busy week is detailed below, but during that, I had an increase of pain around the new growth. I have no idea as to whether that is a good thing, or a sign of things worsening, but we will see how this month unfolds with the new blood test and conversation with Dr. Rahman.
Tuesday was one of Sandra’s new days off for the past week and we spent most of the day out and about to various places. We covered a lot of things and the day was full of variety. It started first thing with a friend from the historical group (the one I bumped into at the recent scooter ride out), popped by to stock his book shelves with the books he had missed since the last time he had acquired one. We then went out and did various bits of browsing and bought a few things, a nice bit of lunch in the middle, then a bit or rearranging to create some room in the house, connected to book storage and shipping materials. We had the grandkids around in the late afternoon / early evening, as they have had a change to the swimming lessons timings, so each one of them was with us, as the other one was undergoing their lesson.
On the history front, Monday was Münkemer book shaped, with the Greek chapter photo captions done, and the smaller chapter that follows that one. The other main ‘history’ focus, was a trip to Normandy. That was connected to a book fair and book signing event for the launch of the French language version of my Fritz Witt book.
Rodger started his Normandy trip by coming down on Wednesday afternoon, as he was staying with us overnight. We had time to visit the Hawkinge Battle of Britain museum, which is close by and situated on a former wartime airfield. We also then took the short journey to the Capel le Ferne Battle of Britain memorial site. The weather was poor, which made the Capel site a bit challenging and, despite that being located on the edge of the White Cliffs of the Kent coast, it was heavily fog-bound, so Rodger was denied the usual stunning views out over the channel.
I undertook various prep for the Normandy trip, before departure in the early hours of Thursday. On the way down to Normandy, from Calais, we stopped off at the V1 launch site at Val Ygot, which was a good place to visit. We travelled over the Seine at Rouen (one of the main escape routes from Normandy for the German troops, then travelled a little further south to Elbeuf, another main escape route and the scene of a set of Oakleaves award. Once we arrived close to Caen, our first stop was Hill 112, the strategically important high ground south of Caen, that seen very intense fighting. Our final stop for Day 1 was Villers-Bocage, where our hotel was situated. Of course, we done a walking tour of that scene of Wittmann’s heavily documented tank-led action.
Day 2 was focused on the American sector, with our first stop being La Cambe German military cemetery close to the Omaha beach area. We moved on to St. Mere Eglise, then made our way back towards Omaha, stopping off at a couple of very good museums en route. In the early evening, we stopped at Port en Bessin (which the RM Commandos captured) for a very enjoyable meal. Day 3 was British / Canadian sector focused, with some 12. SS sites wedged in between those. Pegasus Bridge, Ouisterham bunker and the nearby invasion beach started off the day (all Sword sector), then onto the Abbey Ardenne and Rots (12. SS), a visit to a superb private museum there, then over to Arromaches (Gold sector) for the afternoon. If you have not been there, take the time to visit, as it has the remains of the Mulberry B artificial harbour and the whole location brings the importance of D-Day to life. We rounded off that day with a nice meal at a Chinese restaurant just outside Carpiquet.
Day 4 was the whole point of the trip (the above were just bolt on bonuses we decided to do, as we would be in that area), which was the book signing at Château d'Audrieu, with Maranes Editions releasing the French language version of my Fritz Witt book, published in 2025 (the 3rd of my books that they have published). The book fair was a busy one and I signed many books for eager customers. I also signed another batch, before leaving, for postal customers of theirs. It was nice to be able to support their book launch and good to talk to more history enthusiasts, even with the language barriers.
Before rounding off, I will have to make a point of highlighting the chance meetings with friends and fellow history enthusiasts, during those few days in Normandy. Francie and Cameron (my first face to face meeting with them, despite being friends for many, many years, online), Dick B, Dave H and Ian P. We made some new acquaintances, which will be followed up and all of those help lift the spirit and make the trip all the more enjoyable; critical elements of making the most of my time, as I fight my way through this disease and the impacts it brings.
In summary, whilst this week’s update does not contain much in the way of health impacts, I think it is a nice contrast to the month of May, which was a very challenging month. Whilst I was not sure if the trip would come off, I was very glad it did and it was a very busy and enjoyable 4 days, travelling with Rodger, Evaldas and Colin, who were superb journey companions and we thoroughly enjoyed the activity packed excursion. Despite what may be lurking in the background, the past week and especially the Normandy trip, were a nice change and chance to tell the God of Death, “Not today!”
Great to talk to some of you in Normandy and thanks for the unyielding support of my situation, it means a lot.
Regards, Peter