BEST DAY EVER: MONACO

Start at Cova Montenapoleone, the Milanese café on the Avenue des Beaux-Arts, a short walk from the Casino. It opens early enough to catch the morning light on Casino Square before the crowds arrive.

Order the cortado -- a double espresso cut with a small amount of warm milk, served in a glass. It is the correct morning coffee for Monaco: strong enough to wake you up, small enough to drink quickly. Sit at a window table if you can. The pastries are excellent -- the cornetto is made fresh every morning, and the almond croissant is worth the calories.

The room is all dark wood and marble and brass, which is exactly right for Monaco at 7:30am.

Take the lift from the port up to Monaco-Ville -- the old town on the rock, which is the original Monaco. It is a medieval village perched on a cliff above the Mediterranean, and it is genuinely beautiful.

Walk to the Prince's Palace, which has been the residence of the Grimaldi family since 1297. The changing of the guard happens at 11:55am every day -- it is brief and worth watching. Walk to the Cathédrale Notre-Dame-Immaculée, where Grace Kelly is buried. The tomb is simple -- a flat marble slab with her name and dates. It is, for reasons that are hard to articulate, genuinely moving.

Walk to the edge of the rock and look out over the Mediterranean. On a clear day you can see the Italian coast. On any day, the view is extraordinary.

Come down from the rock and walk to La Marée, on the Quai des Sanbarbani in the Condamine district. It is a seafood restaurant on the port, with a terrace that looks directly at the yachts moored in Port Hercule.

Order the bouillabaisse if it is on the menu. If not, the grilled sea bass with fennel and olive oil is excellent. The wine list is heavy on Provençal rosé, which is correct. Order a half-bottle of Domaines Ott Clos Mireille and drink it slowly.

After lunch, walk along the port. The yachts are extraordinary -- some of them are the size of small apartment buildings, and all of them are immaculately maintained.

Walk the circuit. Not all of it -- it is 3.337 kilometres -- but the important parts. Start at Sainte-Dévote, the first corner, where the statue of William Grover-Williams stands in his Bugatti. Walk up the hill to Casino Square, where the cars go airborne on the approach to the corner. Walk down to the Mirabeau hairpin, the tightest corner on the circuit. Walk through the tunnel.

Stand at the Nouvelle Chicane and look at the harbour. This is the view that appears in every Monaco Grand Prix broadcast -- the yachts, the rock, the Casino in the background. It is, in person, even more beautiful than it looks on television.

The circuit is a public road for 51 weeks of the year. The barriers come down after the Grand Prix and the streets return to normal. But the geometry is still there -- the camber, the walls, the barriers. You can feel it when you walk it.

Take a taxi to the Monte-Carlo Bay Hotel and sit on the terrace at Blue Gin. Order the Blue Gin Spritz and watch the sun go down over the Mediterranean. This is the best hour of the day in Monaco -- the light is golden, the temperature drops to something comfortable, and the Riviera stretches away in both directions.

If you are hungry, the bar serves small plates -- charcuterie, cheese, olives, bread. They are good enough to tide you over until dinner. If you are not hungry, order a second spritz and stay until the sky turns dark.

Dinner at Elsa, the Michelin-starred restaurant at the Monte-Carlo Beach Hotel. It is the first fully organic Michelin-starred restaurant in the world. The menu changes with the seasons and the market; the tasting menu is seven courses and takes about two hours. The wine list is excellent, with a strong selection of Provençal and Italian wines.

After dinner, walk to the Hôtel de Paris and sit at the Bar Américain. Order a martini. Dress appropriately. Do not take photographs of other guests.

The martini will arrive cold, correct, and in a coupe glass. The room will be warm and quiet and exactly right. Outside, Casino Square will be lit up, and the Ferraris will still be circling. Monaco will be doing what Monaco does -- being Monaco, at midnight, in the way that only Monaco can.

This is the best day ever. You are welcome.