The commune of Mougins is, without doubt, another sparkling jewel in the Côte d’Azur’s crown. Not only does it have a strong cultural heritage, but it also brings together outstanding gastronomy, a celebration of arts, sophisticated techology and an abundance of nature in the most sublime way.

Extending across 2,560 hectares of which nearly 50% is made up of parks, gardens and forests, the commune has a population of just over 16,280 inhabitants. To some, Mougins is just a satellite of Cannes - located as it is only 10 minutes away by car (7.5km) while for others it is a vibrant community with Nice airport just under 30km away and 18% of Sophia-Antipolis’s technopark overlapping into it.

This is a pretty commune that’s well tended and cared for not just by the municipality but local inhabitants too. Thankfully it’s not overly touristy so making it a fun place to explore as each little street irresistibly beckons. Art galleries, charming boutiques, along with colourful floral displays, hanging baskets, numerous fountains and statues add further interest and charm to this delightful medieval village and its surroundings.

Due to its proximity to Cannes, Le Moulin de Mougins is also the chosen venue for the annual gala dinner and auctions event of the amfAR Cinema Against Aids during the Cannes Film Festival. Championed originally in 1985 by Dame Elizabeth Taylor, today it is now hosted by Share Stone. Though tickets may cost $5,000 each, all proceeds go to the American Foundation for Aids Research.

While the village and countryside is very attractive, Mougins is however best known for its exquisite gastronomy. When Roger Vergé came to Mougins in 1969 to set up Le Moulin de Mougins, the town claimed a total of 7 restaurants: today, there are nearly 40 all vying with each other. From the most prestigious restaurants to the lesser-known establishments you’ll find a warm welcome and excellent cuisine, whether traditional French or Provençal.

Since 2004 Alain Llorca has been at the helm of the Moulin de Mougins.  I first discovered this exceptional restaurant in 2006 and simply adored everything about it. The attention to detail, decor, immaculate service, and exquisite food is outstanding. Since then I have returned with Nigel to celebrate a number of special occasions and the magic I first felt is still there.

Upholding Vergé's tradition Alain Llorca also continues running the Ecole de Cuisine du Soleil with his brother, Jean-Michel,a brilliant pastry chef. Lessons, either in English or French, are supervised by one of the chefs from the restaurant. Each session is based on a menu or a theme that varies with the season. Classes comprise of 5 half-days a week, one week a month.

As mentioned earlier, Mougins is strongly associated with the arts due to its exceptional site and of the artists who settled there. In 1924, Francis Picabia, a surrealist, avant-garde painter, developed a passion for Mougins and decided to settle there. By sharing his enthusiasm with his friends, he attracted some of the greatest figures of our time to this small village.

The most notable of them was Pablo Picasso. Picasso discovered Mougins as early as 1935 in the company of Dora Maar and the photographer Man Ray. In 1961, at the wonderful age of eighty, Picasso and his wife Jacqueline moved to avenue de l’Orangeraie located in Notre-Dame-de-Vie, a secluded area nestled in hills of Mougins.

There he spent the last 15 years of his life until his death in 1973 using his villa, l’Antre du Minautore, as both his studio and home. The hermitage of Notre Dame de Vie (once painted by Winston Churchill) stands at the top of a long meadow bordered by two rows of giant cypresses. A 15th century stone cross stands beneath the trees. Picasso’s house, well screened by trees and bushes is just opposite.

From culinary delights and arts we now turn to Mougins’ other treasue: its vaste stretches of countryside. Located east of Mougins is the Parc de la Valmasque a beautiful forest of pine and oak trees that spreads over 560 hectares. With 20km of footpaths, botanical walks, cross-country cycling, horse riding trails, picnic areas, and keep-fit circuit this is a great place to enjoy throughout the year.

You can enter the park from a number of access points but the one going through the Etang de Font merle has an added bonus to it. This superb open woodland has an enormous 3 hectare pond, that now harbours Europe’s largest group of lotus plants. Neglected for many years it is now a protected site for the cultivation of the lotus flower and home to over 60 species of migratory and sedentary birds. We first visited this site in February 2004 and realized then just how spectacular this place would be in summer. So we returned the first week of August to see the lotus flowers in bloom. Click here to read our feature article about this amazing pond.

Part of the La Brague park goes through the commune of Mougins and its river is considered to be a angler’s paradise; with tales of superb trout specimens mentioned. It is yet another place on our “hot list” to visit so suffice to say that you can follow the riverbed for about 9 km discovering a multitude of plants, fauna and aquatic life. We shall report more about it later.

Lovers of golf will be more than suitable impressed by Mougin’s two golf courses. The Royal Mougins is one of the most exclusive clubs on the coast and the most international. The 18-hole golf course, built in 1993 and the work of Robert Von Hagge, is of superb technical quality and hosts a great international and open golf tournament every year.

The Golf Country Club of Cannes-Mougins is also an 18-hole course, constructed by Dave Thomas and Peter Alliss and opened in 1978 by Tony Jacklin. This is a relatively flat course with many bunkers and water obstacles to make it interesting.

Then of course there’s Mougins relationship to Sophia-Antipolis’s technopark as it was one of the 5 original communes of Sophia Antipolis. Many companies located on the science park are in Mougins.

Lastly, there’s Tournamy; a sprawling commercial district of shops, large Champion supermarket, innumerable estate agents, schools, banks, bistrots and administrative offices.

With so much diversity it’s little wonder that Mougins has become such a sought after commune causing house prices to climb steadily over the years. With its proximity to Cannes, Nice Airport and Sophia-Antipolis and wonderful countryside, it is understandable why so many people want to live here. This is probably reflected by the high number of estate agents - 38 of them - that are established in the commune with a great many of them located in the Tournamy district.

For those of you thinking of staying in or around Mougins, you’ll find an excellent range of Hotels and Chambres d’Hôtes such as Bastide St-Olivier, Le Mas Candille, Hôtel de Mougins, Le Manoir de l’Etang, and Hôtel du Val de Mougins, are just some out of the 16 or so that exist. Holiday apartments can be found at Le Club Mougins while two campsite exist; l’Eau Vive Campsite located along chemin des Cabrières and Camping des Lentisques on Avenue Général de Gaulle.

The medieval village was built on a shell-shaped hill between the sea and the mountains. It’s also a pedestrian’s dream as cars are prohibited access. We first discovered the village at night. We’d been invited to a rather exclusive restaurant (L’Amandier de Mougins) just a couple of months after we’d first arrived in the south of France. While our meal was excellent it was our walk afterwards that remains ever engraved on our minds. The warm summer air carried the subtle scent of herbs and mediterranean flowers intermingled with aromatic cooking bouquet of the Midi. Around the Place du Commandant Lamy, the restaurants, balconies and solitary elm tree were decked in pretty chains of light. lending an almost festive feel to their surroundings The Town Hall was decorated with French flags, hanging baskets and tubs cascading with geraniums and petunias.

People meandered gently through the narrow pedestrian streets or gazed across the valley towards the many different towns and villages nestled in the foothills of the Alps. It was without doubt an unforgettable and peaceful setting

You can reach le village by one of two ways. You can park at the Tourist Office’s car park located avenue Jean-Charles Mallet and walk, from there, up a flight of steps to the village. Once you’ve reach the top you’ll have an incredible panoramic of the Baie de Cannes, Lérins Islands and Mandelieu. Alternatively you can continue to drive up and park in one of three car parks; Hubac (113 places), Moulin de la Croix (50 places) or by the Post Office (35 places) - again reaching the village on foot after negotiating a series of paths and steps.

Don’t worry if you find yourself out of breath as this is a great time to pause and turn round and enjoy the stunning views over Grasse, rolling countryside and the foothills of the Alps. From your vantage point, you’ll also be able to look down on the area of Tournamy. The steps aren’t as bad as they sound as my mother - at the grand age of eighty - managed them (though probably spurred on by the mouth-watering cooking aromas emanating from further up) so you will too.

Once in the village, the choice of restaurants is overwhelming. In front of such a bewildering selection you may first want to peruse two restaurant guides; the Guide Gantié (with an English section) describes 800 restaurants in Provence and Côte d’Azur and has a good segment on Mougins. The Gault Millau with 6000 restaurants and hotels in France has an equally good selection of local “tables”.

Some restaurants have their own website which will help you decide where to eat. Otherwise strolling leisurely round Mougins reading the many alluring menus is an alternative - and a great way to pick up an appetite.

The old village is also the home of the Musée de la Photographie. Located behind the church bell-tower at Porte Sarrazine, it’s really well worth visitng. For a payment of only 2€ you’ll discover a wonderful display spread over three floors. There’s a lovely collection of old cameras, such as the cidoscope, an ancestor of animated cartoons, and numerous photographs of Picasso and his family by his friend André Villers taken in the 1930s. There are also works by famous photographers such as Clergue, Doisneau, Duncan, Lartigue, Roth, Otero, Denise Colom and the press photographer Ralph Gatti. Some rooms are given over to temporary exhibitions displaying the work of contemporary photographers. The museum was once the village jail house and then later the local school.

The Musée Municipal is located on the first floor of the Mairie which was built in 1618 on the foundations of a former chapel dedicated to St. Bernadin. Entry is free so there’s no excuse not to visit as you’ll find an interesting retrospective of the history of Mougins. The display includes Roman artifacts, a relic of Saint-Honorat, and numerous exhibits of local handicrafts and agricultural implements.

Part of the display is given over to Commandant Lamy, born in Mougins in 1858, who explored Africa and founded the capital of Chad (once called Fort-Lamy). You’ll find his bust at the entrance of the old village and, if you walk to 36 Place des Mûriers, you’ll find the very house he was born in. This is easy to find as it has a commerative plaque dedicated to him.

As you meander around the age-old streets you’ll come across numerous small arts and crafts boutiques. Ceramics, pretty table-ware, wicker baskets, dried flowers and herbs will catch your eye and cause you to linger further - and with over 18 art studios and galleries such as Galerie Dans Le Ciel and Galerie du Crescendo, Marines Contemporaines, and Shana Art Gallery to visit as well as Le Lavoir on Avenue JC Mallet with its exhibitions of paintings and sculpture, designed to promote young talent, you’ll have a very busy day ahead of you.

If you want to know more about le village, then a guided tour is held every Thursday at 10h00. Enquire at the Tourist Office as the staff are very helpful and will be able to arrange the tour for you. With the added attraction of a large car park - we’d suggest you pop in there first to pick up maps, leaflets and brochures on Mougins - and of course all the other wonderful places to visit too.

Leaving le village behind us, we should also mention the Museé de l’Automobiliste located chemin de Font-de-Currault just off the autoroute A8 between Antibes and Cannes. Open every day all year round, admission costs €7 for adults. There’s a fabulous collection of cars; Rolls Royce (Phantom I, Silver Wraith), Delage D8SS, Hispano-Suiza (H6B, J12, …), Delaunay-Belleville, Ford (T), sport cars such as Ferrari (550 Maranello, 308 GTS) Lamborghini (Countach, Miura), Bugatti (Type 35), Porsche (356B de 1962), Formula 1, to mention but a few of the vehicles on show - as well as the largest collection of toy cars in Europe.

The commune is also home to the Mougins School. An international school open for students between the ages of 3 -18 and of all nationalities, it is the only educational establishment on the Côte d'Azur offering a British education leading to UK qualifications. Situated on a purpose-built campus in the park of Sophia Antipolis on Avenue Docteur Maurice Donat (Font de l’Orme district) access roads have been much improved, over the past year with the addition of a new round-about and tarmac surfaces.

Something that’s become a bit of a landmark are the enormous Russian dolls of the restaurant-cabaret and entertainment show Le Saint-Petersbourg just on the bend of Avenue St. Basile. We must own up and say that we haven’t gone there yet and can only report what people have told us - it’s a smashing place for a night out and although a bit short on parking spaces, they do have a doorman which is super.

This little spot also has an estate agent, antiques’ shop, and another superb restaurant all in close proximity. La Ferme de Mougins is an elegant restaurant offering quality Provençal food and some grand crus in a romantic setting; yet another “table” to add to your burgeoning gourmet’s list.

But before you start rushing off to visit Mougin’s treasures, why not indulge yourself with some croissants and coffee? We recommend Les 4 Saisons boulangerie-patisserie located just further down the road. With outside seating and shaded from the hottest sun, you can relax and watch the world go by before heading off on your travels. (Incidentally, there’s a handy ATM next door - always useful if you decide to go on a shopping spree instead.)

It would be wrong of us to say that, in this short article, we’ve managed to cover all of Mougins. Far from it. There is still so much more to discover but for now, we hope we’ve shared our enthusiasm and encouraged you to come and visit this lovely town when you’re next on the Côte d’Azur.