The International
Festival of Games, which takes place in February, features
backgammon, bridge, belote, draughts, chess, role-playing, tarot-reading
and crossword puzzles.
Tennis
French tennis was born in Cannes, the ‘town
of a hundred courts’, in 1879, when Sir Thomas Robinson Woolfield
built the first court. The modern city has over 16 clubs with 130
courts, the oldest among them, the Tennis Club de Cannes,
has welcomed both George V of Sweden and Rita Hayworth.
A few of the many courts in Cannes are Tennis Club de Cannes,
11 rue Lacour (telephone number: (04) 9343 5885), Gallia
Lucien Barrière Tennis, 8 boulevard Strasbourg (telephone
number: (04) 9399 2320), and Tennis Municipal de la Bastide,
220 avenue Francis Tonner in La Bastide Rouge (telephone number:
(04) 9347 2933). All charge hourly rates.
Golf
Golf in the city dates back to the original Cannes Golf
Club, set up by the exiled brother of Alexander III Tsar
of Russia, in the 19th century.
The best greens on the Riviera are within easy reach of Cannes.
These include Cannes-Mandelieu, Route du Golf in
Mandelieu (telephone number: (04) 9297 3200), and Cannes
Mougins Golf Country Club, 175 Route d’Antibes in
Mougins (telephone number: (04) 9375 7913). Membership is not required
and visitors should expect to pay approx €90 for a day’s
golfing.
Watersports
Watersports, including windsurfing, water-skiing, scuba diving and
pedalos, are widely enjoyed. Sailing takes place at the Vieux
Port (Quai St Pierre) and the marinas on the eastern side
of Cannes.
In September, the International Yachting Festival,
one of the leading boat shows in France, is held at the Pantiero
Esplanade. During the Royal Regattas, later in
the month, fleets of yachts come to Cannes for a week of races.
Showing Jumping
The Cannes International Show Jumping Competition takes place in
June.
Boules
Association Boulistes Kiosque, Allée de la Liberté
(telephone number: (04) 9299 2814) is Cannes’ oldest boules
club.
Fitness centres
All of the Cannes’ ‘Palaces’ luxury accommodation
and four-star hotels are equipped with fitness centres. Aero
Gym Wohl’s sports centre for women only, 15 rue Georges
Clemenceau (telephone number: (04) 9338 0670), entitles visitors
to participate in all the group courses, aerobics and aqua aerobics
in the sea) as well as access to sauna, jacuzzi and fitness rooms.
Men can pump their muscles at the men-only Fitness Centre,
10 boulevard du Moulin (telephone number: (04) 9399 6616). The huge,
mixed gym, Top Fit, is located close to the motorway exit for Antibes
(telephone number: (04) 9374 4444).
Swimming
Visitors can swim at Piscine Coubertin, avenue
Pierre Poési (telephone number: (04) 9347 1294) for €1.45.
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