Jacques Cartier and northern encounters
Marguerite de Navarre's Heptaméron and Roberval. The impact of North America on the French imagination
Intertextual echoes. Marguerite de Navarre, François de Belleforest and André Thevet
Jean Ribault et René de Laudonnière. Floridian encounters
Strained alliances. Second and third voyages to Florida (Laudonnière)
Jean de Léry's Brazil. Continuity and innovation
"Fidelle tesmoignage" : Samuel Champlain's Des sauvages
Conclusion : "Le naturel de la nation Françoise".