UPON arriving at Charles de Gaulle International Airport and if you’re here for more than a week of stay, the first rational thing to do upon checking in at the hotel of your choice is renting a car. Renting a car takes you anywhere and you don’t have to rely on annoying bus and taxicab rides especially if the taxi driver will con you into taking turns here and turns there just to up your flagged rate. This may happen if you’re not familiar with the place. So renting a car is a leisurely thing to do especially if there’s a GPS installed in the vehicle. One need not worry anymore if he or she can possibly get lost.

Because Charles de Gaulle is host to travelers not just from Europe but from Canada, the United States, Mexico, Asia, the Middle East and other countries in the world, car rentals there are so cheap because of the extremely high demand. And there are a variety of models to choose from ranging from luxury sedans to off-road vehicles. Off-road vehicles are ideal for cross-country road trips. In the summer, you can hit off the beaches especially the nudist ones. In France, there’s one particularly acres and acres of compound which is a nudist area. If you’ve seen the domed campus in The Truman Show, there’s a real replica of that and it is located in France.

But inside Cap d’Agde, one will see a shopping mall full of naked salesladies instead of the more conservative community featured in The Truman Show. Cap d’Agde has its own movie house complete with receptionists in the nude, fast food outlets complete with everyone cooking to the one serving the dining area in the nude (there are male waiters too), salons with everybody from the cashier to the nail attendant in the nude and every amenity in the real world you can think of. Just don’t stare too long at someone otherwise you’ll be labeled as a pervert which is sort of a castaway in the naturist community. Also, you can’t park the off-road vehicle you’ve inside The Naked City, you have to park it outside in some unpaved area because it is against the law to drive muddy tires in paved roads in France.

The French are pretty serious in taking care of the environment after all; they even strip themselves so as to conserve clothing (no pun intended). If you are more conservative, you can always visit the more child-friendly beaches in France although nudist families are certainly welcome at Cap d’Agde. Cap d’Agde or not, all beaches in France are certified the blue flag by the European Union which means their beaches and their tap water is chemically clean. Driving is always to the right as it is in the United States and many parts of the world. And as with all roads in most civilizations, vehicles cruising in main thoroughfares are considered the priorities over the ones intending to cross. Also, be constantly aware of your speed here as France has installed photo radars in every major highway following the deadly crash of Lady Diana’s vehicle a decade ago.