A night in the Mary celest pub in Arromanches
Be careful of the guys with handbags though.
The word is that 'Grumpy Pete', the expat who had owned the place for years, has sold up and moved on. Shame; it only ever opened up Thursday, Friday and Saturday night, but I have had many a riot of a night there.
The locals were always really friendly (even those with handbags), one year we had a massive darts match, mixed teams of men and women French and English .... We got wrecked, really wrecked. Some of the girls were, lovely really lovely, a mate stills lusts after Delphine even now! ....
At one stage the bastards made me throw my darts from the pavement on the other side of the road through the open door ..... just for laughs, just because I was that pissed. The local lads were very envious of our ability to be able to buy modern high value bikes, and be able to tour extensively throughout the year. Most were working within the local agriculture industry for low wages, Pete was quick to stand up for how hard they worked and what rotten rates of pay they made. I think he made us so guilty (and we were so pissed by then we stood a round for everyone). That went down well. Pete called a halt to it at about 2.30 am, there was a Gendarmerie station just up the road back then, closed now though.
Next morning I was fit for sweet FA! Even a shower and Karen's breakfast at Normandy Beach B&B couldn't revive me. At one stage she was making emergency preparations for us to stay another night. But early afternoon we managed to set off and ride back to blighty ..... Happy days and many fond memories. Be back again to Arromanche again next year to say hi to Karen and Adrian, and can only agree with all of the recommendations above of places to check out.