A few thoughts about where you might want to be based......

Nice

Nice fills the senses. Enjoy its Italian heritage. Smell the mimosa and lavender in the flower market; taste the socca, the pissaladière and pastis in the Cours Saleya; stroll the busy Vieille Ville with its tiny streets. Walk along the Promenade des Anglais, visit the art galleries. Or simply sit at a café in Place Garibaldi  and enjoy this wonderful, busy, atmospheric city over a plate of wonderful sea food and a glass of Chateau Bellet.

St Tropez

This is an extraordinary spot. Where the Côte d’Azur ends and Provence begins. Originally a tiny fishing village until frequented by Brigitte Bardot and friends in the 1950’s, St Tropez has never looked back. It remains quite possibly, the trendiest resort in Europe.

Someone once described it as “a small village with the services of a capital city” which is a pretty accurate description. St Tropez in season is a synthesis of A to C list celebrities, artists and traditional village life.  

In the old town, you’ll still see villagers walking with shopping baskets to the grocer’s shop. It’s just that the next-door store is Dior. Along wriggling streets the width of two donkeys, a lady in a housecoat will be cleaning her front step next to an agency for Sotheby’s. Two doors down is the sort of nightclub where celebs are fêted. An eclectic mix.

Never lacking in atmosphere, St Tropez, so close but exotic, is somewhere you must see at least once in a lifetime.

Avignon and Aix-en-Provence

Two historic cultural centres.

The Palais des Papes and the Pont in Avignon:the heritage of Cezanne, the intellectual buzz in the Cours Mirabeau bars (the Cafe des Deux Garcons was Cezanne's watering hole) in Aix.

Avignon, jumping off point for the Luberon (re Peter Mayle), is the capital of the truffle; Aix, not to be outdone, boasts the largest street market in Provence.

Both are fascinating centres for that small incentive trip your team deserve.