Sunday: Spa Day in Mougins

Typically, Sunday is a manly day. Football. Baseball. Beer. Tooling around in the garage. Well, Mougins doesn’t have football or baseball. And Mougins only has French beer, which isn’t worth drinking. And our five star hotel did not have a garage in which Jeremy could tool around. So Sunday in Mougins became spa day. Yes, in the South of France, Sunday is Spa Day!

Upon making our hotel and gastronomic experience reservation at La Mas Candille, Jeremy also made an appointment for me to enjoy a massage at the hotel’s spa. And as soon as I found out that he had only made a reservation for me, I made one for him, too. If only everyone could have seen the look on Jeremy’s face when I delivered this news. You would have thought I had told him he was going to give a speech in front of his entire high school while wearing only a pair of tighty whities. Immediately, Jeremy began to whistle, which is the first sign that Jeremy is nervous. Oh, the fear of a massage!

Our spa appointment was scheduled for 2:30 PM, which meant we had a few hours to kill on Sunday morning. So we hopped on our bicycles and took a ride around Mougins and towards the small town of Antibes, which holds an international Jazz Festival every year. Unfortunately, we missed this year’s festival by a few days. And even more unfortunately, we didn’t even make it to Antibes, as we got a little lost navigating the roads on our bikes and nearly ended up on an eight-lane highway. But since it was hot as hell, we didn’t mind turning around and heading back to our hotel for a little bit of time at the pool before our massages.

So at 2:25PM, we walked over to the spa. Jeremy held my hand, he was definitely nervous. And it got worse before it got better… Upon entering the changing rooms, we were handed a fluffy white bathrobe, as well as a small triangle shaped piece of cloth folded and stored in shrink wrap packaging. This small cloth is also known as disposable underwear! Poor Jeremy, he was so nervous! To be honest, so was I! The incredibly small piece of triangle cloth was not comfortable, not supportive, and not pretty. Thank goodness for the bathrobe!

However once we entered our suites for our massages and facials, nothing else mattered. For two blissful hours, Jeremy and I enjoyed time relaxing, napping, and drooling. Much to Jeremy’s surprise, it was a great experience. Nothing of which to be afraid! And upon sipping water in the relaxation room after the massage, Jeremy commented, “I might get another one of those back in San Francisco.”

Relaxed and feeling good, we still had one more thing to do in Mougins that night… eat an eight course meal with wine pairings. Yum! The 13 waiters at La Candille Restaurant again took excellent care of us. And our sommelier from the day before, presented us  with a new glass of wine for each course of the meal. He hid the bottle from us so that we could guess the wine varietals each time. And although he was very tricky in pouring us three different French chardonnays all in a row, we aced the test!

Merci, Mougins! We hope to come back and enjoy more time in South of France very soon. But for now, it  is time to continue our adventures in the Languedoc. A santé!

2010-07-18 - Eight Course Gastronomique Dinner in Mougins