It was around 9 am when I woke up, 21 and in Nice. Mum and Campbell generously took about half an hour buying pastries and coffee while I skyped Sharlene in bed, and then we feasted! 
The pastries were as good as ever, and the little raspberry tart made a very pleasant substitute for a proper birthday cake.
I then took a nice long unhurried shower and got ready for the day.
With my vague plans for the day laid out on a crude hand-drawn map in my pocket, we set out for the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art. 
It was a relatively small but enjoyable set of exhibits, with lovely views of the city from all angles from the open-air top floor. 
Mum and Campbell spent a lot of time complaining as always about some of the more abstract pieces ("Why is this in a museum, anyone could do that" etc) but enjoyed themselves nonetheless.
We particularly enjoyed sitting together as a family and watching a video of a man dressed up as a ghoulish cartoon Pinocchio vigorously thrusting his tubular nose in and out of a jar of mayonnaise (among other, less suggestive acts). Thought-provoking stuff.
We then went outside and found our way to a large outdoor sculpture: Mum called it "Block-Head", though I have no idea what the official name is. 
Lunch was now calling us, so after phoning to ensure our 25-minute walk out of the city centre wouldn't be wasted, we made our way to L'Anis Étoilé, a small modern French restaurant in the Libération area of Nice with unanimously good reviews.
The cuisine could be best described, perhaps, as modern French with an Asian twist. Mum had a tiny glass of champagne to start, while I finished off the obligatory little jar of olives and then had a strangely familiar yet still fresh and delicious warm octopus salad as an entrée.
As a main, Mum had some sort of lamb, Campbell a sort of deep-fried spring roll filled with duck, and me some unnamed white fish. All came accompanied with sweet-potato purée and garlicky mushrooms and some capsicum-y stuff and these individual crispy 'fries' which seemed to have been fried several times. As usual we all tried each others', and agreed they were good indeed.
For lunch-dessert, we shared pannacotta, chocolate fondant and a kind of apple crumble thing. 
As delicious as ever. The garnish, a slice of unripe starfruit, reminded me very pleasantly of the Cook Islands.
We left at 3 pm and got the tram three stops towards the sea, alighting in the middle of the Old Town. 
We spent a bit of time perusing the shops that fill the winding lanes, buying some truly awful tacky souvenirs. We then found our way up the side of the Colline du Château, a large hill which promised yet more opportunities for panoramic photos looking out over the city. I'm not sure we ever found the château in question, but many nice views were seen by all. 
As there was still an hour or two before we'd be ready for dinner, we started heading back towards the hotel for a brief rest. Along the way, we came down through the Old Town and the supposedly famous flower market on Cours Saleya, although it seemed to be closing up so wasn't particularly impressive (or maybe it wasn't in the first place, who knows).
We continued along the Promenade, pausing awhile to admire the sea and the stony beach and the approaching sunset, before the cold compelled us to return to the hotel.
Around 7 pm, we headed out again to grab some dinner. We passed one of the restaurants I was considering on the way but found it rather empty, so continued on to my other option: Bistrot d'Antoine, a very nice French place which, while in the same general area, was markedly less touristy than most of the other restaurants in the Old Town.
There was still a very cool vibe, sitting out on the street in an ancient lane with pedestrians and drinkers and smokers at neighbouring bars all around.
I enjoyed the free entrées - olives again, and a fancy tin of lemony sardines with bread
- and my actual entrée of a rabbit terrine even more. 
Our mains were risotto - with quail and lemon for Campbell, jambon cru (fancy ham) for Mum - and a dark rich pork stew for me. All excellent, and reasonably priced too. 
Instead of their dessert, we found our way to trusty old Fenocchio again, working our way through even more of the menu. Mum went back to her highlights of ginger chocolate and vanilla meringue, Campbell tried Nutella, nougat and pistachio, and I indulged in a double-stacked cone with scoops of orange, banana, hazelnut and cocoa. Mmmm.
As we ate our ice creams, we wandered over to the gay pride parade we had heard was happening.
We were given a vigorous pat-down by security, and entered the garish square to find a mediocre Queen cover band playing 'We Are the Champions' followed by 'Don't Stop Me Now'. After some lame hyping-up of the crowd and some awful dance music being played over the speakers, the actual parade thing started.
There were all kinds of different dancers and drummers and middle-aged men in glittery wigs and big elaborate floats and topless pole-dancing guys.
I stood and watched two little kids of African descent have a confetti fight with an old man dressed up as a pink cat while their veiled mother roared with laughter at the spectacle of it all, and thought noble thoughts about multiculturalism and French identity and social change and stuff. 
Campbell just stood there looking bored the whole time though. But I know he had a fabulous time really, whatever he says, and felt equally happy to see the LGBTQIA* community being loud and proud in what is quite a conservative city by French standards. 
On the way out, Mum bought me a rooster hat coloured like the French flag, 'cos why not, I guess. 
We walked back to the hotel and I skyped Sharlene for a bit again and then eventually we went to sleep.
So an excellent day overall! It was a shame I couldn't share it with everyone, but I very much appreciated all the lovely messages on the day and the gifts and feel very special and loved and all that sort of thing. Thank you all! Now looking forward to Mum and Campbell's last night in Europe tonight!
