Monaco

Despite living a short train ride away and hearing its name frequently in conversation, for awhile I couldn't figure out what exactly Monaco was. Was it like a country, or a city, or what?

Monaco is an autonomous city-state couched within the borders of France. It covers only two square kilometers but counts a disproportionate share of the world's wealthiest sports stars, businessmen, and gamblers as residents, mostly because it has no income tax.

Like all densely populated areas, Monaco has built itself up vertically, but its contours, an Escher-like maze of hills, terraces, and cliffs, couldn't be more different from the angular skyscrapers of Manhattan.

The architecture, along with a striated social sphere including wealthy transplants, gawky tourists, and native cab drivers and restauranteurs, gives the city an almost feudal feel. At the same time, it is one of the most technologically saturated places in the world. It seems like you can't walk up to a door without it sliding open automatically.

Monaco is a place to see and be seen. In front of the main entrance of the Monte Carlo casino, a crowd mills about twenty four hours a day, hoping to catch a glimpse of the celebrities coming and going. If you happen to drive by, they will peer anxiously at you through the car window, then look away, disappointed.

It is not only people doing the watching. Nearly every square inch of the city is covered by surveillance cameras (the black eight ball-looking kind). Monaco is not a place where you want to try to get away with something.

It's the past and the future. It's opulently luxurious and deeply stressful. It's summer camp meets police state.