Things to do

The big Saturday market on place Saint-Patrice, 7:30 am to 2 pm, is where the Bessin’s producers gather: cheeses, cream, cider, fish landed at Port-en-Bessin, poultry and vegetables. On Wednesday mornings a smaller version takes over rue Saint-Jean.

It is the perfect supply run for a stay at the house: you can put together dinner for a table of fourteen in an hour, for less than any caterer.

Our house tip — Go before 10 am for the best stalls, and look for the cheesemongers offering tastings: a full Norman cheese board — Camembert, Livarot, Pont-l’Évêque — comes together on the spot.

At low tide, Asnelles beach turns into a vast track, and the local club — a certified school with qualified instructors — gets beginners and old hands rolling from age 7, helmet provided.

The thrill is immediate: ten minutes is enough to hold a course, and the Channel wind does the rest. It is the group activity par excellence — exactly the kind of memory a party of fourteen comes looking for.

Our house tip — Sessions follow the tides: book as soon as your dates are set, and aim for a morning low tide so you can follow up with Arromanches, five minutes away.

Normandy’s leading scallop port, wedged between two cliffs: basins, trawlers, a fish auction, and quays that come alive when the boats return. Georges Seurat set up his easel here in 1888.

The walk loops the basins then climbs the eastern cliff to the Vauban tower for the view over the outer harbour. The quayside fishmongers sell the day’s catch — the serious address for a seafood platter back at the house.

Our house tip — From late October to mid-May the Saint-Jacques scallop season is in full swing, landed right here: ask the quayside fishmongers — scallops take ten minutes over the fireplace back home.