I'll be going to France for 4 months to conduct research towards my PhD. I believe I will be issued with a long stay visa for research to cover my trip. I have the required "Convention d’Accueil" from the organisation I'll be spending time at. I currently hold an Australian passport.
My question is, is this research visa considered a "Type D", like the other French long stay visas and does it allow entry into other Schengen areas? Does the research visa carry any specific conditions (besides the fact that you need a "Convention d’Accueil" to apply)?
I will have a month off during my 4 month stay, during which I'd like to travel around to other countries, hopefully I can do this with the one visa.