Normandy Markets and Produce Around Arromanches

The Bessin — that corner of Normandy between Bayeux and the sea, of which Arromanches-les-Bains is one of the balconies — is an open-air larder: scallops landed at Port-en-Bessin, raw-milk cheeses, cider and calvados from orchards planted a kilometre from the D-Day beaches. Staying here with a kitchen at your disposal is the chance to shop the markets like a local. Here are the verified market days, the produce not to miss, and our tips on where to buy what.

What are the market days around Arromanches?

In the Bessin, there's a market somewhere almost every day of the week. The two unmissable ones are in Bayeux, a ten-minute drive from Arromanches:

• Bayeux, Saturday morning: the big market on the Place Saint-Patrice, the largest in the area. Producers, fishmongers, cheesemongers, market gardeners, poulterers — this is where you fill the basket for the weekend.
• Bayeux, Wednesday morning: the rue Saint-Jean market, smaller and more intimate, in the pretty pedestrian street of the historic centre. Ideal to combine with a visit to Bayeux, its cathedral and its museums.
• Port-en-Bessin, Sunday morning: the weekly market is held on the harbour, amid a backdrop of fishing boats.
• Creully, a village south-east of Arromanches known for its château, traditionally holds its market on Sunday morning.

In Arromanches itself, the food shops (bakery, mini-market, seasonal fishmonger) cover everyday needs; for one-off and summer markets, the safest bet is to check the calendar of the Bayeux-Bessin tourist office or the town of Bayeux website, which keep the times up to date.

The Port-en-Bessin scallop, queen of the Bessin

A quarter of an hour from Arromanches along the coast, Port-en-Bessin is one of Normandy's leading artisanal fishing ports. Its pride: the scallop (coquille Saint-Jacques), fished from autumn to spring and carrying the Label Rouge quality mark. During the season you'll find it at the harbour fishmongers — the fish auction brings the inner-harbour quarter to life — and on the market stalls in Bayeux.

If you're staying in November, don't miss Le Goût du Large, the festival of the scallop and the fishing trade, which turns the quays into one great shared table: tastings, cooking workshops in front of the auction hall, live music. Our article on Courseulles, Juno Beach and Port-en-Bessin gives you more good reasons to head out to the harbour.

In the kitchen, the Bessin scallop needs almost nothing: a foaming knob of butter, a minute per side, a pinch of fleur de sel. The studio kitchen handles it beautifully.

Which Normandy cheeses should you bring back from the market?

The four Normandy AOP cheeses are easy to find at the cheesemongers in the Bayeux markets:

• Pont-l'Évêque, a soft, washed-rind cheese — square, creamy, and the oldest of the Normandy cheeses still made today.
• Camembert de Normandie (AOP, raw milk) — be sure to look for the wording "de Normandie", which guarantees the raw milk and the ladle-moulding.
• Livarot, nicknamed "the colonel" for its five strips of sedge, stronger in flavour.
• Neufchâtel, heart-shaped, the presumed elder of the family.

Ask the cheesemonger for a ripeness "for tonight" or "for three days' time" depending on your plans: that's the whole point of buying at the market rather than off the shelf.

Where can you find cider, pommeau and calvados in the Bessin?

The Bessin is a quiet but serious cider-making country. A few kilometres west of Arromanches, the Ferme de la Sapinière (Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer, right by Omaha Beach) farms its orchards organically less than a kilometre from the sea and produces apple juice, cider, pommeau de Normandie and calvados. A visit to the farm — orchards, press, cellars — comes with a shop well stocked with Normandy specialities. Other Bessin cider producers open their doors for direct sales; the tourist office keeps the list up to date.

At the Bayeux markets, several stalls also offer farm ciders and pommeau. To go with a seafood platter, a well-chilled dry cider is the most natural — and most local — pairing there is.

What can you cook at the studio with your market basket?

This is the scenario we most love to suggest to our guests: the Saturday-morning Saint-Patrice market in Bayeux, back to Arromanches, and in the evening, pan-fried scallops, salad, a plate of AOP cheeses, an apple tart from the baker and Bessin cider — all prepared in the studio's equipped kitchen, beneath the period fireplace. For the evenings when you'd rather sit down out somewhere, our selection of places for where to eat in Arromanches takes over.

Set down your basket in Arromanches

Between the Bayeux markets, the Port-en-Bessin auction and the Bessin cider farms, everything is less than twenty minutes from our studio in Arromanches, with its equipped kitchen and its view over the village. Book your stay and come taste Normandy at the source.