AS part of the European mainland, France is also a signatory of the Schengen Agreement. The signatories of that agreement mandate are all countries in the landlocked European mainland and under the agreement; any citizen of any country which is a signatory opens its borders to the citizen of another country without a need of inspection. This, on top of the European Union directive which allows all citizens of all member countries to come to other European states without necessarily having a visa.

France is one of the most visited countries in the world by European tourists. Its history evolved even before the birth of Christ with the settlement of the Franks there. Then the Romans came and France was largely influenced with Christianity. Then came a period of several monarchs like kings and one emperor – Napoleon Bonaparte whose reign follows a very precarious period for the country. A republic was installed only to be toppled when Bonaparte regained power. It wasn’t only after World War II when Charles de Gaulle began to settle things down when the modern French republic was developed. Charles de Gaulle was so loved by the people of France that they named an airport after him. The Charles de Gaulle International Airport in Paris is one of the busiest in Europe. It is where players of the ongoing 2007 Rugby World Cup from 20 nations of the world passed through when they checked in earlier this month. Since some of these nations are not located in Europe, they naturally needed a visa to get here. Whereas players from England, Wales, Italy, Portugal, Romania, Scotland and Ireland just breezed through customs upon coming here, players from Samoa, South Africa, Tonga, the United States, Australia, Canada, Fiji, Japan, New Zealand, Argentina, Georgia and Namibia needed visas to come here. Of course, these visas would have already been prepared by their respective nations’ teams. But if one intends to live in France for the rest of one’s life by himself and taking with him his spouse and family, there must be procedures to follow to secure a visa if you don’t originate from another European country.

France is also a very accommodating country when it comes to staying by foreigners. It has a relaxed real estate law where foreigners can easily purchase land or even a fully furnished house or villa. Because of this, the real estate industry is equally progressive with the tourism industry in this country. Tourists not only flock here to enjoy the sights, the food and learn the language; they are also mesmerized by the various nudist beaches here, the most famous of this is the Cap d’Agde. Cap d’Agde is actually a shopping mall in one of the more beautiful beach regions in France and all of the employees in the mall – from the waitresses to the janitors – are all nude. No one goes there without being in the nude. All you need to bring is a little towel for hygienic purposes. But you must not go there if you are not a nudist by nature and if you’re just a pervert because security guards, who are also in the nude by the way, will surely accost you. Cap d’Agde is actually a domed city much like the set in the movie starring Jim Carrey, The Truman Show.