French - starting out a short campaign

I played a few years as France last night. In many ways quite similar to Great Britain with its North American provinces, battles with Indians and a colonial ally - i.e. Louisiana. However, France seems to have a literal goldmine in Guyana which is quite profitable and also more wealth in general in both America and Europe - however, this also means there is more to defend.

I spent the first few turns just trying to build up some garrisons and defences, while also keeping focused on building up long term economic growth as early as possible. I dabbled in a war with Wurtemburg when they declared war on me, but my forces were well beaten when I tried to lay siege to Cologne, so I have left that for a while.

Next step is to build and protect New France and Quebec and then strike south to help Louisiana.