There are numerous golf courses within 15 minutes drive from the cottage (see list below)

Two tennis clubs are also nearby - clay and hard court.  Within 20 minutes drive there are 3 squash clubs too.

Half a dozen bridge clubs in the area put on tournaments afternoon and evening (see list below).

Besides Mougins, there are dozens of other pretty villages to visit closeby - Eze,   St Paul de Vence,   Gourdon, the list is endless.

Festivals and cultural events in provence 

If you love Jazz, you'll enojoy summer here, when there is an abundance of it on offer. There are annual Jazz Festivals at Aix (Jul), Juan les Pins (Jul), Nice (Jul) and Ramatuelle (Aug).

Grasse has the famous perfume factories of Galimard, Molinard and Fragonard which are open to the public.

Boats go out to the Lerin Islands off Cannes daily (where the Man in the Iron Mask was kept), as well as to Monte Carlo, St Tropez and Italy in the summer.

Marineland with its dolphins, sharks and killer whales is a great day out for the whole family - there is also an aqua park and farm for the toddlers and mini-golf and fun-fair for older children.

There are zoos at Frejus and St Jean Cap Ferrat.

Biot is famous for its glass factories which are open to the public.

The calanques (fjords) around Toulon are worth seeing and the famous Gorge de Verdon is in the Provence hinterland.  On a day out to Marseilles you can take a boat out to the Chateu d'If. 

There are local markets open each day of the week and always worth a browse around ( see the section on markets )

During winter the ice rinks are open in Nice and Monte Carlo.

The area has a number of festivals - some internationally known like the Cannes Film Festival (May), Monte Carlo Formula 1 (June) and Tennis Open (April) or the Nice Carnival (January) - and many others of interest.

For artists and art lovers the area abounds with interest.  The owner of the cottage is an enthusiatic and experienced 'plein air' painter herself.

There are numerous museums and galleries open to the public:

National Museums of the Maritime Alps                                                 

Matisse Museum, Nice                  

Chagall Museum, Nice                 

Picasso Museum, Antibes              

Fernand Leger, Biot                     

Museum of Modern Art, Nice       

Annonciade Museum, St Tropez    

Foundation Maeght, Saint-Paul     

Renoir Museum, Cagnes sur Mer

Golf clubs in the area include :-

Grasse Country Club                         (04) 93.69.55.44

Golf Roquebrune                               (04) 94.9.60.35

Golf Valescure                                  (04) 94.82.20.46

Golf Opio-Valbonne                           (04) 93.12.00.08

Golf Saint Donat                               (04)93.09.76.60

Golf d'Esterel                                   (04)94.82.55.00

Golf Royal Mougins                            (04) 92.92.49.69

Hostellerie du Golf                            (04) 93.49.11.66

Golf de Villeneuve-Loubet                  (04) 93.22.52.25

Golf Cannes-Mandelieu Riviera           (04) 92.97.49.49

Golf Bastide du Roy                           (04) 93.65.08.48

Golf Taulanne                                    (04) 93.60.31.30

Golf Old Course - Cannes Mandelieu    (04) 92.97.32.00

Golf Club de Beauvallon                      (04) 94.96.16.98

Saint Endreol                                     (04) 94.51.89.89

Golf de Saint-Maxime                         (04) 94.55.02.02

Victoria Golf Club                              (04) 93.12.23.26

Golf Club Garlenda                             +39 (182) 58 00 12

Bridge

Bridge is very popular in France with 100,000 licensed members of the FFB by the end of 2005.   There are 50 clubs on the Cote d'Azur playing duplicate tournaments mostly in the afternoon but at some in the evenings too.  There are arranged federal competitions in various categories starting every October played throughout France and culminating in national finals in Paris.   Then there are also the Bridge Festivals, attracting an international field, offering good prize money and normally aranged around week-ends and holidays - the big ones in the region being  Cannes (February), Menton (February), Juan les Pins (May), BCCA Nice (July), Cannes Palm Beach (August) and the Monte Carlo Patton (November).

You can join in of course even if you are not a registered player or even a good player and visitors are always welcome at the various clubs.   Most tournaments during the week are Pairs events run on Howell movements and computer-scored very quickly after the event.  The French play almost exclusively the Majeur Cinquieme - 5 card majors with a strong no trump, which can be summarised in 10 minutes before playing.

Bidding boxes are used in all clubs which helps with any language problem.

Clubs nearby include ( excluding the 7 in Nice):