Bluer Tuesday!

If anything, I felt a little more miserable today, even though it was supposed to be Blue Monday yesterday! The weather certainly isn't helping at the moment and it was grey and cold again. Somehow, I liked this weather on the moody, empty beaches of Normandy, but in Northampton, it's not quite the same!

Anyway, I worked away and felt much better in the afternoon. At least tomorrow I am off, but I can't say I'm looking forward to taking the VW in for its MOT first thing in the morning... we're just hoping it will pass!

Sophie called me from work to say that the traffic was backed up right to her office, so she left a little bit later than normal, hoping it would clear. She didn't arrive home until well after 6pm and found Keith and I on the sofa with a loving Mooney in between us! We'd put the heating on but the house still felt cold so I'd lit the fire, which made the living room lovely and cosy. 

I decided to taste the last two of my whiskies this evening:

December 24th: Talisker Port Ruighe Single Malt Whisky at 45.8%. Another peaty, smoky whisky which put me in mind of those Scottish mountains again and misty evenings. I also detected a hint of sweetness. 5/5

December 25th: Highland Park 18-Year-Old Viking Pride Single Malt at 43%. I detected very strange aromas on this - farmyard smells, then violets, but it was a lot better with a drop of water! 4/5

After dinner, Keith watched football and Sophie and I read. She is reading a book at the moment which she says is the best she has ever read, including her favourite Douglas Kennedy novels. She's just waiting to see how the author ties up the ending before recommending it to me to read. It's been a scary one, with her sometimes squealing as she's read it! Sounds good to me!

Blue Monday?

It was back to normal today and a return to work for Sophie and me. Sophie said she'd wished she'd also booked today off so she could stay at home and cuddle the cats! If only!

I was expecting a large number of emails to deal with, but it wasn't too bad, and I spent the day wading through them. The chocolates I bought in France went down well with my colleagues and I should have bought a couple of bags as they were all gone by the end of the day!

Keith collected me at 4pm and we headed home through surprisingly light traffic. It was lighter tonight and we're looking forward to seeing more daylight now that the winter solstice has passed. I will be glad when it's daylight at 6am and I wave Sophie off to the gym. Those days can't come soon enough! I think today was known as "Blue Monday", which was hardly surprising. Christmas and New Year are over and Spring is still a fair way in the future. It won't be long, though!

I pootled around for almost an hour and did the usual evening chores. Sophie was adapting tins of tomato soup tonight and adding pasta and parmesan cheese. I got into trouble as I'd crossed garlic butter off the shopping list, but we made our own by grating garlic and adding it to the French butter we'd bought. The bread was delicious and went perfectly with the soup. I think we'll do that in the future rather than buy expensive ready-made garlic butter!

A day of domesticity

Today has passed in a blur of washing and drying clothes and being at the beck and call of both machines, who took turns to beep at me! By the afternoon, I'd had enough! I'd never seen so many socks out for a wash in my life, and Sophie confessed she'd been doubling up on them to avoid getting blisters again! The last straw was when she put her scarf out for a wash and I'd flung it back at her! 

I was feeling a bit tetchy today and I think we all needed a break from one another! My Mum called mid-morning and said she was desperate for toiletries so Sophie and I braved the weekend crowds and popped to Tesco, the last place I wanted to go to today. We came across an argument raging between the supermarket security guard and a customer who had put his dog in a trolley. The customer maintained the dog was an "assistance dog" but had nothing to prove it! It turned nasty as we walked into the store but the security guard wouldn't budge!

I called my Mum from Tesco to ask if she needed anything else and she said she was going to lunch and asked if I could leave the bag in reception, so I didn't actually see them today. I had bought chocolates for her and Calvados for my Dad but said I'd see them properly on Thursday and take her out for an hour.

The weather hasn't helped with my bad mood today; it's been grey, overcast and bitterly cold. Sophie and I drove home and gave up finding an automatic carwash to clean Olive who was filthy. Everything feels dirty and scruffy at the moment... it's the time of year!

We spent the afternoon relaxing (and doing more washing) and I had a long soak in the bath. The cats have been in and out all day, with Gomez spending most of the day curled up on Sophie's bed. We think he has been out all the time since we left for France last Wednesday!

Keith cooked a delicious curry for dinner and we watched Death in Paradise after we'd eaten. It had been recorded on the 22nd of December, the day we drove to Gatwick before flying to Mallorca. It all seems a distant memory now!

Normandy 2025 - 15th - 18th of January

Lunch in Montreuil-sur-Mer

We were up early, showered, dressed and packed before 9am. Outside it was grey and foggy with freezing temperatures. We called at Carrefour first to fill up with petrol and buy a pack of pains au chocolat for breakfast on the road.

Sophie's app then directed me towards Caen and we were able to get rid of our recycling on the way. The N13 was busy but it didn't take long for us to get to the autoroute. Soon, we were speeding past signs for the towns we'd driven through yesterday, and I noticed that the Sanef tolls were automatic and we'd have to pay within 72 hours. This was new! On Wednesday, we had stopped at the conventional tolls and either collected a ticket or paid. I asked Sophie to set a reminder to pay tomorrow morning!

Soon, we saw signs for Deauville and then Honfleur and we crossed over the imposing Pont de Normandie Bridge. The fog wasn't as thick as it was on Wednesday so we had views over the Seine below. The roads were mostly empty and the driving was smooth and easy. Once past Le Havre, we stopped for coffee and pastries at a very confusing aire. It wasn't only me who was confused as to where to go, at least two other drivers also lost their way to the car park!

Back on the road, we made steady progress towards the town of Montreuil-sur-Mer, which is nowhere near the sea. We'd been here before, back in May 2023, and we thought it would be a good place for lunch. We only had one hiccup... I came off the autoroute a little early and we had an interesting drive around the town of Abbeville. It wasn't a place I'd go back to but we did drive around the outskirts so not a fair assumption of the town!

I couldn't get over how empty the roads were today! There were hardly any lorries and just a few cars travelling along the route. Fields stretched away either side of the road with the occasional village popping up every now and again. We saw buzzards perched on the fences just sitting and watching but we didn't know what they were waiting for. There was no roadkill but they looked magnificent with their brown and white plumage.

We arrived in Montreuil-sur-Mer just as the market was packing up. I found a space nearby and we walked to a Brasserie that had a good menu, including the dish that Sophie craved - a Welsh! It was busy and warm inside but the waitress said they were full, although they could accommodate us at 1.30pm. I was on the point of saying OK, but Keith and Sophie said we didn't have time and dragged me back out.

We were starting to wonder if the entire population of France eats out at lunchtime, as the restaurants were heaving. In the end, we found an unpretentious little restaurant called La Paloma at the far end of the square, and to Sophie's delight, they also served a Welsh, including the complet version with an added egg.

Just one other couple was eating and a man was waiting for a pizza, but we really didn't have much choice! The young lad serving was friendly and we ordered a pichet of Chardonnay and a beer for Keith. Both Sophie and Keith ordered the Welsh while I chose the Forestiere Flammenkuchen.

We sat and giggled about our choice of restaurant and finding the only empty one in the whole town! However, the food was good, the service was attentive and the female chef made an appearance at the end of the meal and chatted to us in English. We think it was a mother-and-son business and the place was immaculately clean, if a little quirky with the choice of music playing! Sophie and I shared a delicious chocolate sundae for dessert so the meal didn't disappoint. Before heading back to the car we went into a Carrefour yet again and bought some beer and chocolates to take home.

Homeward bound

It took us just over half an hour to reach the Shuttle terminal and we managed to board an earlier train. We had a quick look around Duty Free but nothing appealed so we waited for our call and then went through passport control and security. By 4.15pm we were on the train and I didn't have to drive up the dreaded ramp this time! I put my seat back and we all nodded off on the short journey back to Folkestone.

The weather in the UK was identical to the grey, foggy conditions in France. The M25 was heaving and I had to keep all my wits about me as I drove. There was some bad driving going on, including one mini whose driver slammed their brakes on as we drove onto the M11 and numerous middle-lane hoggers. When we stopped to use the facilities at the services near Stansted, the area was so badly lit that people couldn't see where they were going! I had cleaned the head and tail lights of the VW on the train, thank goodness, but why aren't these places lit adequately?

The traffic was lighter on the M11 and it was a relief to join the A14 - we were nearly home! We made it by 7pm and unloaded the car. The house was cold even though Isla had put on the heating for us. The freezing kitchen was making it worse so we had to put the heating on in there and light the fire in the living room. Gomez made an appearance as we unloaded the car, and Mooney came in a little later although he was a bit aloof with us!

Keith made me a drink and we relaxed for the rest of the evening, watching the documentary on Mallorca before we retired for the night. Tomorrow will be a busy day spent washing and unpacking, and then it's back to reality on Monday!

Normandy 2025 - 15th - 18th of January

Back to Deauville

We had a lunchtime booking at the restaurant L'Etoile in Deauville for 12.30pm today, so we set off at about 10.30am. Sophie directed me onto the busy N13 through Caen first, and then we turned off onto quieter, more scenic roads. We're finding the map app on Sophie's phone is a lot more reliable than Trish at the moment, but Keith does keep an eye on the paper map as well!

It was a grey, heavily overcast day and cold. The blue skies and sunshine of yesterday had disappeared, unfortunately. We made it to Deauville by 11.30am and parked on one of the main streets. We headed in the direction of the main square where a food and textiles market was taking place. Sophie bought herself a pair of black corduroy trousers, and we popped into a gorgeous wine and food shop, marvelling at old bottles of Calvados from 1939 up until the 2000s. The 1939 bottle of Calvados was selling for 1490 euros, while the 1968 was 550!

We picked out a couple of bottles of wine, and Keith bought a tin of sardines. The range of food and drinks was vast, and we could have spent hours browsing in there! However, time was marching on and it was almost 12.30pm. L'Etoile was busy with lunchtime diners when we arrived and we were greeted at the door by the owner. He sat us at the same table as last year!

He gave us a menu, but we also looked at the set lunch and specials boards. Sophie and I decided to opt for the set lunch - Sophie chose a ham and mozzarella salad for a starter while I opted for the pumpkin and carrot velouté. For our main courses, we both chose cod with a kind of ratatouille. Keith stuck to one course - a veal chop that he'd enjoyed last year.

Tall tales?

Sophie and I drank a glass of Chablis with our meal and Keith chose a local beer made in Deauville. As we were waiting for our lunch, an elderly man at the next table leaned over and asked if we were English. He was obviously keen to talk and seemed a little lonely sitting by himself. He said that he'd owned a house in Deauville for twenty-seven years but had just sold it. It was good to talk to him, but the restaurant was busy and noisy - there was a large table of diners opposite - and we had to keep straining to hear him.

Our food arrived and my soup and Sophie's salad were very good. Our cod was delicious as well, but our new friend kept asking Sophie how to turn up the volume on his phone as she was trying to eat! Keith gamely worked his way through his large veal chop and I found four bones in my fish. I attract bones in fish, just like I attract slightly strange characters who want to tell me their lifestory!

The man then ordered himself a half bottle of red wine and carried on talking to us. He was keen to tell us about the sale of his house, which overlooked the famous Deauville racecourse. He said he'd met Frankie Dettori once at the races, who had ordered Champagne and oysters. About the sale of the house, he wouldn't mention a price, but he told us about the man who wanted to buy it, and who wanted to bring up his children in the area. He then mentioned his paintings of semi-naked women dotted about the house (I swear I'm not making this up, but why he felt we needed to know this, I have no idea) and how the buyer's mother wasn't impressed. He finished off this tale by saying he demanded another 50,000 euros for the house, which the buyer paid. I dread to think how much it went for! Later, looking at house prices, most were heading towards 1.5 million euros!

By now, Keith was bored with the man and made his feelings known by ignoring him. However, he carried on, saying he had celebrated his 81st birthday on the 12th of January (a fellow Capricorn then, which might have explained a few things) and how he'd driven over on the ferry. Sophie and I ordered dessert: an apple and almond tart served with cream, and Sophie treated herself to a glass of Calvados. No homemade version this year, though!

The restaurant had emptied out and the card machine had stopped working so we received a handwritten bill for lunch, which came to 135 euros. Luckily, we had enough cash on us! Our new friend, obviously wealthy (or was he a fantasist, we'll never know!) was working his way through steak and frites and seemed sorry to see us go. He mentioned he was divorced so that would explain his table for one. Next to us, throughout most of the meal, were two older, well-preserved French women, both with tiny Yorkshire terriers. Was it a doggy playdate for them? They chattered away non-stop and Sophie was fascinated by their jewellery. This town certainly has its fair share of wealthy people! I'm sure the man could find a wealthy divorcée or widow to share a table with!

After paying the bill and saying goodbye to our new friend, we walked slowly back to the Carrefour supermarket we'd parked opposite, and bought s few things we needed. Keith returned to the car while Sophie and I went back to the loos by the market. The stalls had all been packed up now and a solitary man was cleaning the paving slabs.

A slow drive along the coast.

Rather than go back to the house on the autoroute and N13, we headed along the coast again. In the town of Houlgate, I parked right on the beach and Sophie and I went down onto the sands. We could see thousands of shells washed up by the sea and we spent a very pleasant half hour collecting some pretty ones that Sophie intends to make into earrings. The beach was almost deserted, just a few hardy dog walkers out enjoying the bracing afternoon air.

I loved the old houses lining the promenade. Were they single houses or apartments?

In the distance, we could see a sandbank with flocks of seagulls having a feast on the creatures that had been washed up onto the sand. I've never seen so many shells gathered in one place before!

It had been lovely looking for shells, but it was cold now, so we headed along the coast to the beaches of Juno and Sword. At Ver-sur-Mer, we headed inland across arable farmland just as it was starting to get dark.

Back at the house, we lit the fire and relaxed. Sophie and I played a couple of games of Scrabble and much to her disgust, I beat her both times. She was not happy! We munched on little creamy cheeses and Cracksters and will be taking a fair amount of food home with us, including a loaf of bread and paté!

The remote control started working again so we were able to log out of Netflix, and by 9.30pm we were all ready for bed. Tomorrow will be a long day!

Normandy 2025 - 15th -18th of January

The tiny roads of Normandy

We awoke to a beautiful sunrise this morning. The fog was mostly gone, although some mist still hung over the fields.

After a light breakfast and coffee, we showered and headed out at about 10.30am. We wanted to visit the village of Crepon to look at The Green Howards memorial, which we had seen signposted when we'd been driving through before, on previous visits. They had landed on D-Day and had fought their way inland to the village, the furthest of any of the Allied units.

We found the memorial and a café nearby called Le Green Howards!

It was a lovely, quirky café with several villagers enjoying coffee. One man gave up his table for us, and we ordered hot chocolate and coffee from the friendly owner. A silly French game show was on the television. What is it with the French and Spanish and weird game shows?!

Sophie snapped a pic of a local enjoying his morning newspaper!

The café was obviously a popular meeting place for people who lived in Crepon. It was open until 1pm and then again in the afternoon and evening. I should imagine it would be lovely and cosy on a winter's night!

When we finished our drinks, we strolled back down to the memorial and read the information boards. One of the Green Howards had been awarded a Victoria Cross for his bravery on June 6th.

From Crepon we drove slowly along tiny Normandy roads to the American Cemetery at Omaha Beach. It took us about forty minutes as the road was closed at one point and we had to make a detour. The countryside was stunning with beautiful villages set amongst rolling arable fields, and every now and again a reference to the war. Sometimes we saw a glimpse of the sea in the distance.

Mistletoe balls in the trees!

Following directions on Sophie's phone, we finally arrived at the Normandy American Cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer. It was immaculate and beautifully laid out. There is a Visitor Centre you can go into but we were short of time as we wanted to eat at lunchtime. We used the facilities - some of the cleanest and most modern public toilets I've ever visited - and walked to the Overlook with Omaha Beach below us.

We were so lucky that the weather was beautiful. Sophie said she felt like she was back in the US, somewhere like California, as the surroundings were so well-maintained. We walked up towards the graves which stretched away in rows into the distance. So many lives were lost. Around two and a half thousand US soldiers died on the 6th of June, 1944.

There were a few people about, but not many, and I wonder just how busy it gets in the warmer months. We walked past a frozen ornamental pond to a memorial building and statue. 

There was a large section of the wall dedicated to a map of the landing beaches with information. I just wish we'd had more time to look at everything but the time was marching on and we knew that we had a two-hour window to have lunch in nearby Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer.

As we walked back to the car, a tour group had just arrived and were talking to their guide about Pearl Harbour. We were to see them again in the restaurant we'd chosen for lunch!

In fact, the restaurant was doing a roaring lunchtime trade and I reckoned that Americans definitely outnumbered the French! A few workmen were lingering over their meals, but La Crémaillere was set up for D-Day tours visiting the area and catered for the tourists. It was a great restaurant, though, with a good menu and friendly staff.

We took a seat right at the front of the restaurant and ordered a plate of charcuterie and cheese to start. Keith chose a local beer, while Sophie, for some reason, chose a Ruby Leffe! I was intrigued by a Rosé cider! It was served in a teacup! I later found out that this is called a "bolée".

The plate of charcuterie was delicious and filled with different hams, salad, and cheeses served with bread. Our main courses were pizza for Sophie, fish and chips for Keith and turkey in a cream sauce for me. People constantly arrived and left and the place was buzzing. An American couple from Louisiana came over to us and asked us what the plate of charcuterie was! The man obviously liked the look of it! There was also a couple from Costa Rica sitting in front of us, so the clientele was truly international.

As the afternoon wore on, the restaurant emptied out, but tour groups were still arriving for lunch. I can just imagine how busy this place was back in June 2024! Sophie and I indulged in desserts - fondant au chocolat, naturally, for me, while Sophie tackled the largest plate of profiteroles I'd ever seen!

We paid the bill and decided to drive to Omaha Beach, a few minutes away. There were more coaches here and people strolling on the sands. 

Sand had been blown up onto the road and, again, the houses lining the beach were shuttered up and forlorn. These all looked more modern than the houses we'd seen driving from Deauville up the coast, though.

A step back in time

We drove a little further along the coast until the road ended and then returned to the house via small country roads and the faster N13. Back at the house, we used the loo and then ventured out to Creully to explore a little. Sophie wanted to visit a "Brocante" a kind of antique shop she'd seen previously, so we parked opposite and went in. It was a treasure trove of every kind of object you can imagine and it was freezing cold! The woman running the place said hello and left us to wander about. There were big old French armoires for sale, glasses by the hundred, paintings, china, kitchen utensils, white goods, the lot! They obviously dealt with house clearances, and there were even a couple of half-empty bottles of perfume! Sophie spotted three pretty glasses, and then another three she liked, and then she hit the jackpot with a cluster of Gigondas wine glasses that she just had to have!

None of the smaller items had a price attached so we went to the counter and asked how much the nine glasses would be. The answer was five euros! Sophie grabbed them, (we weren't given a bag or newspaper to wrap them in) paid, and we scarpered before she changed her mind!

We drove through Creully, which was a pretty town with honey-coloured stone buildings and a couple of bars and restaurants. Before going back to the house we called in at the Carrefour supermarket and bought a bag of wooden logs for the fire, some more beer and gifts of chocolates to take home.

The evening was spent relaxing, dozing by the fire (we used up the whole bag of logs which cost 7 euros) and watching Spectre on the DVD player as the remote stopped working for Netflix! It had been a truly lovely and very interesting day!

Normandy 2025 - 15th - 18th of January

An early start (as usual!)

We were awake at 2am and showered and dressed by 3am. Sophie made a flask of coffee, we did some last-minute packing of the car and we were off! It didn't feel like my birthday at all today!

Google Maps said it would take us 2 hours and 46 minutes to get to the Eurotunnel, but we managed to shave off fifteen minutes. We were given the option of an earlier train for free, which was a bonus and would mean arriving in France an hour earlier than we expected. I bought a map of Northern France (I'd forgotten the one we have at home) and a pack of playing cards in WHSmith! I'd also forgotten our Normandy guidebook, but we roughly knew what we were going to be doing in the area, anyway!

We'd had a horrible drizzle all the way to the terminal and the roads had felt greasy. When it was my turn to drive onto the train I had to go up a ramp. Halfway up, the wheels spun and I couldn't get a grip on the surface. Luckily, the German BMW following me had stopped so I slithered back down gingerly and tried again! This time the wheels dug into the grooves and up we went. It was a bit hairy, though!

We enjoyed coffee and a breakfast bar on the journey and I closed my eyes for ten minutes. Before we knew it, we were in France and it was still dark! I had expected it to be light, but we discovered that sunrise wasn't until almost 9am! 

Unfortunately, it was also foggy and the first hour of the journey was not pleasant. We'd hit rush hour but I just took it steadily and we decided to stop at the Aire de la Baie du Somme for coffee and pains au chocolat. This is now a tradition if we use this route!

Because of the time of year, hardly anybody was about and we used the facilities and ordered hot drinks and pastries. We sat overlooking the frigid canal.

Lunch in Honfleur

The foggy roads were quiet with only the occasional car or lorry. Keith looked out for buzzards and we saw plenty of trees with mistletoe balls. The fog stayed with us for the whole journey to Honfleur and we weren't able to see the impressive Pont de Normandie Bridge clearly, which maybe was a good thing!

Immediately after the bridge, we turned off to Honfleur and parked in the same car park as last year. Keith and Sophie used the loos but there was no toilet paper! Luckily, we had tissues on us and also shared a couple with a young girl who had come in to use them as well! We're all about promoting a good relationship with the French!

We strolled slowly into town looking at menus on the way and deciding where to have lunch. There were a few people about, but I should think the town is heaving in the summer! 

Most of the restaurants offered a reasonable prix fixe lunch menu and we spotted Cap 42 right opposite the harbour. We found plenty of choices on the lunch menu and they opened at 12pm. By now it was drizzling and the fog was lying like lace over our hair! We didn't mind, though. It was January, after all!

As soon as it was 12pm we went to the restaurant and we were shown to a table inside. We were glad we arrived when we did as the place soon filled up with lunchtime diners! The host was lovely and friendly and we ordered a beer for Keith and a pichet of the house white for Sophie and me. I chose the warm goat's cheese salad to start and Keith and Soph opted for the paté en croute. For our mains, both Sophie and Keith chose the turkey in a creamy mushroom sauce, while I decided on a bowl of mussels with French fries.

A basket of fresh bread was put on the table and we tucked into our delicious starters. By now, the host was turning people away from the inside of the restaurant and directing them to the outside, covered terrace. It was obviously a popular place!

The main courses were as good as the starters and my mussels were fragrant with herbs, onions and a buttery sauce. The bread was used to mop up Keith and Sophie's lovely creamy sauce. For desserts Sophie and I just had to have the chocolate fondant (it's the rule!) which had a beautifully oozy centre!

It had been a lovely meal and the atmosphere in the restaurant was very convivial. We paid the bill and then wandered slowly back to the car, stopping to look at the fishing boats moored up on the other side of the bridge. One boat was unloading its catch and the seagulls were wheeling around and around hoping to pick up scraps. A black cormorant was also on the lookout for a tasty lunch. We realised that the River Seine empties out into the sea here and we traced its source right back to Burgundy!

The ghost towns of the Normandy coast

Back at the car, we paid for the parking and I said to Sophie I wanted to get to the house by the coastal route, rather than go back onto the autoroute. So began a delightful journey along the coast, passing through Trouville and Deauville and the Normandy beaches. As we approached Deauville, we saw some huge, imposing houses, all shuttered up. The towns were empty with apartment blocks all closed for the winter. Can you imagine what it was like last June when the 80th commemorations were taking place? Some of the larger houses looked slightly creepy, the stone pointed roofs and chimneys poking out of the mist. Sand had been blown up onto the road from the beach and it was obvious that large stretches of the coast were devoid of people, with the towns perhaps only coming to life from March onwards. Restaurants, cafés and amusement places were firmly closed with no sign of life. We did see two busy casinos, though! In the aptly-named Dives-sur-Mer, the town looked rundown and forlorn and the grey weather added to the atmosphere!

The fog hadn't lifted all day and as the afternoon wore on, it seemed to become thicker. We turned away from the coast and drove through wide open fields, rows of identical trees stretching away into the distance. We arrived at the house at 4pm and Anne-Charlotte met us to give us the keys and welcome us back. We unpacked the car and then set off for the small Carrefour in nearby Creully where we bought more milk, beer, wine, butter, bread and cheeses.

When we arrived back, we unpacked and then it was time to relax in front of the gorgeous log burner. I dozed off and it was lovely to sit and soak up the warmth. At about 6.30pm, we cracked open a bottle of Champagne that Mum had told me to buy for my birthday! Oh yes! It was my birthday! I opened my cards and we sat and sipped fizz while chatting. It was heavenly!

Later in the evening Keith and I watched a new Netflix drama called Missing You while Sophie read her book. It was a lovely evening and the log burner warmed us up, but it really ate wood! We're going to buy another bag of logs tomorrow!