Les Valseuses, Lannion, Brittany

In a picturesque part of hillside Lannion, opposite a 13th century cathedral, is the impossibility that is Cafe Les Valseuses. If you didn't know of it, and were walking the tranquil streets of old Lannion and met someone who told you there was a buzzing bar with raucous rock bands and a vibrant crowd just 100 metres away, you wouldn't believe them. But inside the ivy-clad stone wall is the sort of place Jarvises fantasise about - a judiciously stocked bar run by an irascible proprietor who hires women who look like they should be a film director's muse, a discerning and welcoming crowd (swelled this day by the election concession of one Nikolas Sarkozy live on TV - is there a Breton word for justifiable schadenfreude?) and a tiny band room in the back that hosts high-voltage, high-quality rock bands from Brittany, France and the world at large - not to mention a wonderfully laissez-faire approach to the concept of closing time. Yech'mat!