To travel to Romania, we were instructed by the Romanian embassy that we should either have a multiple-entry Schengen visa or a Romanian visa (which requires an invite from any travel agent in Romania). We are planning to apply for a French Schengen visa (multiple entry), and travel to Romania only, because we find it easier.
In this case, is it necessary to visit France, before or after we travel to Romania?
Yes and no. If you do get a multiple-entry French visa, you could easily get away with not traveling to France. If some border guards or consular agent somehow notices it at some point in the future (e.g. when applying for another visa), you could be asked about it but if you have a plausible story, not having been to France is not enough to get into serious trouble. Regarding this and related issues, see Can I travel to Spain using a Greek Schengen visa even if I don't want to stay in Greece at all? and Getting Schengen visa from a European country without stepping foot into it?
But if you don't intend to travel to France, you're not supposed to apply for a French visa and the French consulate is not supposed to issue one. To get a French visa at all, you would need to cook up some travel plan and that would be fraud. If found out, it would be grounds for a cancellation of the visa and all sorts of trouble in obtaining another Schengen visa in the future.
In any event, if you have never had a Schengen visa before, you're unlikely to get a multiple-entry visa the first time around. You can't just drop in the French consulate and demand one, only to go to Romania.
