www.antibesjuanlespins.com. Across the bay from Nice, Antipolis was founded by the Greeks, destroyed by the Barbarians, then revived as a strategically important fortified township during the Middle Ages. Now it is one of the last bastions of the Riviera’s seriously rich, most of them staked out in palatial splendour on Cap d’Antibes. That said, there are several reasonably priced hotels on the Cap and in the pretty old town centre (see Recommended Hotels) which make Antibes a useful base for exploring Cannes and Nice without big city bustle and prices.

Nearby Juan-les-Pins offers a chance to rub shoulders with the glitterati in its swish nightclubs, some of the best on the Riviera. Juan is now distinctly less Bohemian than in the 1960s.

Little of medieval Antibes’ fortifications remain except along the sea front where you will find the Musée Picasso, housed in the 12th-16thC Château Grimaldi (www.antibesjuanlespins.com). Picasso worked in the castle for six months from 1946, and the simply-restored, high-ceilinged rooms, flooded with light, make a marvellous back-drop for an extensive collection of ceramics, drawings and paintings mostly completed during this short period. The exuberant La Joie de Vivre sets the tone, and photographs of the puckish artist by Bill Brandt and Man Ray amongst others add a pleasingly informal touch. Outside, Germaine Richier’s slender bronze figures stand sentry over a pretty terraced garden (some very natty brickwork), etched against the horizon.

The D2559 runs around Cap d’Antibes via the beach. There are fine views from the lighthouse on Plateau de la Garoupe, and horticultural treats in store at the Jardin Thuret, off boulevard du Cap.

On the Picasso trail, you can make a quick trip to Vallauris (7.5 km W, off the N7). Pottery was an important local craft before Picasso came to live and work here after the Second World War; now the streets are lined with the stuff, most of it pretty awful. For the real thing, visit Atelier Madoura, off rue 19 mars 1962, which has the sole licence to reproduce original Picasso designs – at a price. The Musée Picasso is a small chapel at the top of the main street adorned with the dramatic La Guerre et la Paix sequence, painted on plywood panels. On the main square, a bronze Man with a Sheep was Picasso’s gift to the town.

An excursion to the craft centre of Biot (8 km N via N7, then W on route de Biot/D4) by-passes Marineland, with performing seals, dolphins and the odd killer whale. Biot’s famous bubbly glassware is on sale from factory retail outlets along the way, and the Musée Fernand Léger displays tapestries, stained glass and ceramics by the 20thC artist (www.musees-nationaux-alpesmaritimes).