Mougins, France, things to do: The village that inspired some of the world's most famous painters

The countryside of Provence is the stuff of daydreams: rolling fields of vines and lavender, olive groves and pine forests, cypresses and sunflowers, punctuated every so often by a rocky outcrop crowned by a timeless-looking town or village.

One such place is Mougins and strolling through this idyllic Provencal escape shortly after breakfast, I'm pleasantly surprised to have it virtually all to myself. Smooth, sleepy cobbled alleys curl up the hill like a snail's shell, winding past low-rise buildings with rough-stone and peach and yellow hued facades, variously garnished with creepers, potted plants and flower-dressed balconies. Easels and canvases, perched outside doorways, spark thoughts of an alternative life; one where I'm capturing Provence, paintbrush in hand.

Mougins has form for inspiring outsiders. Tucked 10 kilometres inland from Cannes, it became a creative hotbed in the 20th century, when artists like Francis Picabia, Jean Cocteau and, most famously of all, Pablo Picasso, gravitated here. Picasso's over-sized head - cast in bronze by Dutch sculptor Gabriel Sterk on Place des Patriotes - is the most eye-popping of the village's outdoor sculptures. Also attracting glances are a Cubist-style man by the fountain on the restaurant-fringed Place du Commandant Lamy and a head-less, curvaceous female on pretty Place du Lieutenant Isnard.

Themed open-air exhibitions pop up in northern spring and summer. On my August visit, I discover the zesty installations of septuagenarian Italian artist Giuseppe Carta. He's hewn giant chillies in the colours of the French flag and massive grapes, tomatoes, strawberries, pomegranates and other fruits and vegetables. Lemon sculptures are placed by the village's medieval church and beneath Porte Sarrazine - a remnant of Mougins' old fortifications.

According to local legend, in the 12th century, villagers would pour boiling olive oil over Saracen raiders from the top of this arched gateway.

A mix of ancient and modern art pulls visitors to MACM (Mougins Museum of Classical Art). Founded by retired investment manager and lifelong collector Christian Levett, the museum delves into ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome, displaying funerary masks, gold jewellery, war helmets and marble busts. They're joined by classically-inspired paintings, drawings and sculptures by a who's who of more contemporary talent, including Picasso, Cocteau, Keith Haring, Salvador Dali, Marc Chagall, Henri Matisse, Damien Hirst and Andy Warhol.

The nearby Mougins Centre of Photography promotes established and emerging artists, and the village's few dozen other galleries and working studios also warrant a peek. Myriad genres are showcased: Provencal scenery, avant-garde pieces with a Picasso-esque twist and even Australian Aboriginal art (at the Red Dunes Gallery). You might see resident artists - hailing from France and overseas - oil-painting, moulding and chiselling, curating collections and gift-wrapping items for customers.

It's worth venturing beyond Mougins' tiny historic core, especially when it begins swelling with day-trippers. A short drive or a 30-minute ramble via undulating country lanes and tree-shaded canal-side paths (with a summer soundtrack of trilling cicadas), I reach Chapelle Notre-Dame de Vie. Hedged by a Tuscan-style garden, this stone hilltop chapel - once painted by Winston Churchill - has a free exhibition featuring black-and-white photographs of Picasso, who lived in the house next door for the last 12 years of his life. As a bonus, Mougins' lush surrounds are on view from the chapel's upper levels.