Good morning, reader of this post, my excellent and dear friend! How are you, today? Happy Wednesday, indeed! I hope your week so far has been nice, I wish you the best. I am okay, also… I woke up earlier than I should and played some more Victoria 3, still trying to reform the russian empire, with great difficulty. I managed to make other religions more tolerated in the realm, but that was about it. Still could not reform the army, still could not reform the land laws, to abolish serfdom. Not a hope of having a more modern economy at the moment, nor of having a better education system. With those frustrations, I took a break from the game, and when I return to the computer, maybe I will play something else.
Then, I went to my bed once again so I could rest my back, and while doing so, I read about 20 minutes of the memoirs of Madame Vigee Lebrun. What an amusing recording, valuable register of her life and the life of those around her! She gave an excellent portrait with words of Russia, where she spent many many happy years. Sad ones, as well, true, but still. She arrived there around 1795 I trust, at the end of the realm of Catherine II, that grand and celebrated ruler. She was acquainted to the empress, that was kind and solicited of her. Alas, just after she arrived, some months later, Catherine died, and was replaced by her unloved and resentful son, Paul. Emperor Paul was kind towards Vigee, but did not display this kindness towards many more folk. He was hated and rightly so, for he governed as a tyrant, through fear and endless military protocol. I don’t personally dislike Paul, but i understand why others do. Madame LeBrun spent much of his realm in Moscow, the city that, at the time, was one of the biggest in Europe.
Paul ended up having a short realm of 4 years, being assassinated by unhappy courtiers. The grief in his family was great, but still, his son, Alexander rose to the throne, and his ascension to it was greatly and euphorically celebrated. Alas, just after he took the throne, Madame Vigee decided to leave for the german region. Her departure was greatly lamented by all of her many friends in Russia, including the Emperor and Empress, that begged her to stay, seeing her presence not only as a pleasure but also as an honor to the country. Elisabeth was fond of Russia, seeing that vast land as her second homeland, but she longed to go, specially after departing from her daughter, when she married a Russian official. And that is where I, for now, leave the book. She just started the journey back to France, with regret but conviction. Hopefully I will read some more soon, and will write about it here on the blog!
Here is my Christmas card for 2023, by the way, dedicated to all my friends, but some in particular, that I mentioned on Instagram, those are Charles, Johannes, J., Florius, and so on…
I am considering playing a bit more of Anno 1800 when I return to the computer. I may as well return to Vic3, even if that would not be ideal… God knows I have plenty of unfinished business in the game. Speaking of games, Europa Universalis 4’s new DLC will be released on November 6th! Which is roughly… less than 20 days from now! I look forward to it.
Maybe I will draw something once I return to the desk, though the plans are not set in stone. I could maybe doodle a character from my thoughts, though I won’t make any promises regarding drawings… I think this is a good point to wrap up today’s post…? But I am not necessarily finished with writing, as I may do a Patreon post today, even, on my Christmas Card for 2023, that I finished. Concerning the blog, I shall be back to it really soon, around the weekend, maybe before that, maybe just after! No worries, it will go by fast! See you again real soon! And once more, wish you the best!
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